Opposition leader Tony Abbott is drawing criticism for his controversial policy regarding Indonesian asylum seekers.
Yesterday Abbott reaffirmed his stance that. should the Coalition be voted into power, Indonesian asylum seeker boats would be turned around and, as Abbott told Network Ten, sent back to “where they came from”* with or without the Indonesian Government’s acceptance of the policy.
There are obvious humanitarian implications of Mr Abbott’s proposed solution, but the political consequences pertaining to Australia’s international relations with Indonesia could be catastrophic.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr responded to Abbott’s policy proposal saying, “Tony Abbott’s playing with fire. This is sheer recklessness. To talk about turning back the boats in his first days as prime minister would be to engineer a crisis in our relations with our most important neighbour.”
Yesteday Mr Abbott also said it is un-Christian for asylum seekers to come to Australia by boat, telling ABC Perth radio that ”I don’t think it’s a very Christian thing to come in by the back door rather than the front door.” This is an accusation that might be more effective if Indonesia had a Christian population that is greater than approximately 10 per cent.
*Coincidentally, that is the name of a SBS documentary series about anti-immigration Australian racists. LOL, right!
Via Brisbane Times, The Australian.
Pic by Cole Bennetts, Getty Images
