Senator’s ‘final solution’ shock

WHEN recently appointed Australian Senator Fraser Anning commenced his maiden speech on Tuesday, few had heard of the right-wing Queensland politician.

But that soon became history when Anning in his maiden speech demanded a “final solution” to Muslim immigration, using Adolf Hitler’s exact words to describe what is now known as the Holocaust, in which the Nazis killed 6 million Jews and millions of other people.

“We should… ban all immigrants receiving welfare for the first five years after they arrive. The final solution to the immigration problem is, of course, a popular vote,” Anning said.

Now, the member of the fringe Bob Katter’s Australian Party is known across Australia, but for all the wrong reasons.

Anning refused to apologise for his remarks, saying they were not meant to be understood in the Nazi context. But even as his party leadership stood by him, the vast majority of Australian politicians viewed his comments as deliberate and despicable.

Leaders of all major parties condemned the rhetoric, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull describing it as “appalling”.

“Two words would speak for the brutalisation and murder of millions. Two words that evoke fear and grief and trauma and loss,” said opposition Labor Party leader Bill Shorten.

In parliament, the Australian government’s rhetoric has largely remained conciliatory, with Turnbull emphasising this week that “people from every corner of the Earth, from every religion – or of none – and every race can connect, be inspired by, be part of (our) val- ues. That is Australia.”

Some of the actions by Turnbull and his predecessors, however, have sent a very different message.

For five years, Australia has detained hundreds of refugees on a remote island that is part of Papua New Guinea. Deadly clashes, deteriorating conditions and pro-immigration protests in Australia kept their plight in the public debate. Some of the refugees have since been resettled in the US, but human rights bodies recently raised renewed concerns over the health of those who remain. – The Washington Post