Refugee advocates have condemned Tony Abbott’s anti-refugee bill-board unveiled in Perth this (Monday) afternoon.
“Tony Abbott continues to peddle myths and misinformation about asylum seekers. His bill-board refers to illegal boats but asylum boats are not illegal. Abbott well knows that it is not illegal to seek asylum in Australia but he would rather scare-monger than tell the truth,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. “The Coalition is doing all it can to use asylum seekers to win the Federal election. He is committed to wasting even more millions of dollars on detention centres and off-shore processing than the Labor government. Those millions would be better spent on providing the money needed for education, health and boosting the Newstart allowance.
“But Labor and Liberal are involved in a race to shamelessly buy votes at the expense of the truth and at the expense of asylum seekers lives,” said Rintoul.
Two refugee supporters challenged Abbott at his billboard launch; for comment contact Mark Goudkamp, 0422 078 376. Abbott deflected questions about whether an Abbott government would use Curtin to imprison children, as the Labor government is proposing.
“Besides being completely phoney, Tony Abbott’s mantra of ‘stop the boats’ is just another version of the Coalition’s election policy of vilifying asylum seekers,” said Mark Goudkamp
Refugee Convergence
Meanwhile, hundreds of refugee supporters will begin to converge on Perth from Anzac Day this week. A program of protests in the city and two days of action outside the Yongah Hill detention centre, south of Perth, will highlight the outstanding detention issues.
“In particular, we will be protesting to free the refugees, for the right to processing and the right to work for asylum seekers who have arrived after 13 August 2012. Around 14,000 asylum seekers who have arrived since 13 August are living in the community without being processed and without the right to work.
“It is a fundamental denial of human rights on both counts. The Labor government is punishing people for daring to seek asylum. It is a shockingly short-sighted policy. Over 90 per cent of these will be found to be refugees and will become Australian citizens, but Labor is leaving them in limbo and distressed conditions,” said Ian Rintoul.
For more information contact Ian Rintoul, 0417 275 713 or Mark Goudkamp (in Perth) 0422 078 376
