Labor 'follows Howard's footsteps'

THE chairman of the Gillard government's Refugee Resettlement Advisory Committee, Bruce Baird, has accused the government of blindly following the opposition by reverting to the Pacific Solution and backing down on its promise to provide a more compassionate asylum-seeker policy.


And refugee and church groups condemned the government's plan for a detention centre in Papua New Guinea as an "appalling backflip" that would tarnish Australia's international image.

Mr Baird, a Howard government MP who fought against the Coalition's hardline policies, was appointed to head the group that advises the government on how recent arrivals in Australia are settling in to the community.

Mr Baird told The Weekend Australian that Labor's policies on asylum-seekers had now merged with those of the Coalition.


He said he was astonished the government had replicated the Howard government's approach with the Pacific Solution.

The reopening of a detention centre on PNG's Manus Island was an appalling policy decision, Mr Baird said. "We would be far better to have people who arrive in this country (by boat) processed in the same way as people who arrive as unauthorised arrivals by air who are claiming refugee status," he said.

"That's what most countries do around the world - we are the most punitive."

Labor was "meant to be more compassionate on this issue", he said.  

"They've been doing more of community detention, which is a plus, but for the rest it looks pretty similar. We've almost got temporary protection visas in terms of people who have been involved in violence at the camps.

"The whole thing is disappointing and shows a lack of compassion and doing policy on the basis of responding to pressure from the opposition and the quick political fix, rather than educating the community this is part of our international obligation to treat people appropriately - it doesn't mean you'll have an armada of boats descend on the country."

Labor is a pathetic disgrace  

Will the de facto Prime Minister Bob brown sign off on this ??? OR WILL HE BACK OFF FROM IDEOLOGY AND ALLOW LABOR TO GO AHEAD WITH THIS ????

Im sure his worried about the polls against Labor and favouring the opposition.

VERY INTERESTING.

you see I have a family member who has a house to rent down the coast and they have been asked [ by imigration] to take a refugee family of Iraqi as a tenant. they came here 3 weeks ago by the right way,,they have two sons..

now the govt is going to pay their bond and their rent..the parents are on job search..boys on Oz study.. they have a lot of help from a family member and the Refugee group. the house is empty so will need furnishing, all with our help I am sure..