HARRIET DEMPSEY-JONES, CARRARA

THE letter by Graeme Brewer that responded to a previous one about Manus Island refugees (GCB 1/1/18) contained so many errors and twisted pieces of information it would be funny if it wasn’t so depressing.

One thing he got right, however, was the meaning of the word ‘illegal’. He’s correct, it hasn’t changed. Its usage, however, has and it is often misused by politicians when talking about people seeking asylum. It is not an offence to arrive in Australia without a visa when seeking protection from persecution. This is not a criminal act which is why they haven’t been charged.

As for “staged” interviews involving advocates such as Gecko – this is where it starts to get funny. Gecko is a Gold Coast environmental protection group. It is also a small lizard. Neither would have conducted interviews with Manus Island refugees.

He must have meant the Save the Children organisation who were indeed accused of ‘staging’ interviews and exaggerating how awful the conditions were, only to be totally exonerated by an inquiry that left Peter Dutton, who made the accusations, with egg on his

face. Mr Brewer criticises fellow Bulletin correspondents saying they ‘should do thorough research into a topic before commenting on it’.

Well Mr Brewer, I’m afraid the same could be said of you. It would be great if more people did balanced research from credible sources before commenting.

This, however, won’t help those with rusted-on views as they tend to suffer from something called ‘confirmation bias’. This is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.