Dear Editor,
Seven-tenths of my ancestors arrived in Australia in chains on leaky boats: I am a proud descendant of “boat people”.
Those who have the gall to face pulpit in their houses of worship on a Sunday and claim affinity with Christ, a Jewish man of “Middle-Eastern appearance”, yet demonise asylum seekers are bare-faced sanctimonious hypocrites of the highest order.
Given Australia’s involvement in the illegal Iraq war and the unwinnable war in Afghanistan, we have a moral and ethical responsibility to take in displaced and persecuted people from those nations.
After Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War, the then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser had the courage of his convictions to facilitate the arrival of many Vietnamese “boat people”. Mr Fraser did not cower to media and political opposition in that way that Gillard and Abbott have. The Australian children of those Vietnamese “boat people” have made a significant contribution to our society.
Instead of singling out the few hundred asylum seekers who arrive by boat as bad guys, we should be hunting down and transporting the many tens of thousands of North American and European visa over-stayers who are placing a great burden of our ecology and infrastructure. We also have good reason to lower our overall immigration levels, but not at the expense of our humanitarian obligations.
Instead of being caught up in a race to the bottom of human decency by Gillard and Abbott, Australians should instead make a real attempt to empathise and reason as to why someone would pack up their families and risk life and limb on a leaky boat to a seek safe haven in our nation of purported Christian heritage.
Yours Sincerely
David Fletcher
Greens Candidate for Riverina