COMPASSIONATE BILL

WELL, at last, the issue that had to be addressed in a mature way has resurfaced at the hands of some intelligent, articulate and compassionate women.

The bill put forward by Kerryn Phelps has been successful, and hopefully the nation can now look forward to some genuine humane ways of dealing with the plight of asylum seekers.

People seeking escape from some of the worst suffering that the world has seen. No one denies that the answer to this issue is difficult, but for the prime minister and minister for border protection to launch into crude scare campaigns and devalue anyone else’s opinions as rubbish, is juvenile and shallow.

Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison want to treat the Australian people with disdain, and inform us on a “need to know basis” rather than being honest and respectful towards us and informing us openly and honestly. After an election is looming in no uncertain terms, and it would be smart for them to open up as to what actually goes on at sea in operation Sovereign Borders. The electorate is in no mood to be trifled with any more. The polls are consistently gloomy for the Coalition, and they have brought it on themselves.

Peter Dutton’s aggressive and brutish claims that the opposition’s response will be “open, soft borders” should they win government, is purely a contrived concern for Australia.

Slogans by past Coalition personalities proved to be shallow and cruel, and this attempt at patriotism will be seen in the same way by many thinking Australians. Australians by and large live in very comfortable conditions, free from disease and starvation, and the vast majority of people are catered for very well indeed. To claim that it will all come crashing down should anyone else but a Coalition Government be voted in is nonsense.

There are billions of dollars being spent on so-called border protection activities, and the relevant minister and security agencies refuse to admit to the actual figures, and where, when, and how the taxpayers’ money is being spent.

Peter Dutton would shut the ABC down overnight given the chance, but we need to have this great organisation in place so that a balanced and accurate account can be given as to what is actually going on. To rely on “commentators” from the right to present their views unchallenged and not fact checked is unacceptable.

It needs to be remembered that in many instances, shock jocks with radio “shows”, and “reports” on television, are simply biased opinions and need to be scrutinised very carefully before they are accepted as information that can be considered trustworthy and thorough.

So, roll on the election, but make sure your vote is a carefully thought out one, not one that is seen as something to be done and not valued.

NEVILLE WILSON, Toowoomba