Federal Government sources have indicated to Fairfax that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will, once again, reject New Zealand‘s offer to accept 150 refugees currently situated on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island.
That decision comes as nearly 600 refugees and asylum seekers, who are cut off from food, water, and medical supplies, remain barricaded inside a now-closed detention centre over fears for their safety.
Newly-elected Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern are set to meet for the first time in Sydney tomorrow, with the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe on Manus Island a key point of concern.
On Thursday, Ardern said she’d restate her predecessor John Key’s proposed deal, which was first offered to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard back in 2013.
Regardless, Fairfax reports that Turnbull will turn it down over concerns that kindness could be seen as an inducement to other asylum seekers contemplating the treacherous boat journey to Australia.
While opposition leader Bill Shorten’s Labor predecessors Kevin Rudd and Gillard also declined to accept New Zealand’s offer, he spoke in favour of the deal on Friday.
“Of course, there would need to be conditions,” Shorten said.
“But we should give serious consideration to this constructive proposal to help end the desperate situation on Manus.”
The Australian government has long held the hard-line position that operating the ceaselessly cruel offshore detention centres will serve as a deterrent to would-be asylum seekers, and that relenting to any extent would encourage further arrivals.
However, Australia’s position has been rightly savaged by the international community. The United Nations has called on Australia to urgently restore support to those on Manus Island, at the very least.
Unfortunately, the very least may still be just too much for this government. And at least 150 lives may continue in needless misery because of it.
