A DEADLY ARGUMENT

The Bali bombers are expected to be executed any day now. And I say good riddance. It can’t come quickly enough. They lost their rights to mercy and even a skerrick of sympathy when they set those bombs that killed more than 200 innocent people. But as their day of reckoning gets closer it will be worth watching our politicians and see where they stand on the issue of capital punishment. Most of them say they are opposed to it. That there is ‘traditional bi-partisan opposition’ to it. But that’s not quite true.

Ask Prime Minister Rudd or Premier Brumby to go on record saying that the Bali bombers should be spared.

Last year during the Federal election, the then Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Robert McLelland, said that under a Rudd Government Australia would oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. Even for killers like Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden.

Even more, he said Australia would take the lead in forming a regional coalition to fight the death penalties in countries like China and India and Japan and Singapore and Indonesia. That opposition would not be confined to Australians found guilty of capital crimes like some of the Bali Nine.

What happened to that plan?

 McLelland attacked the then Prime Minister Howard for not condemning the imminent execution of three of the Bali Bombers.

His speech was cleared by Kevin Rudd but he was then abandoned when the Labor pollsters realised it was not a good look so close to the fifth anniversary of the Bali bombings. Rudd rebuked his Shadow Minister and described his comments as’ highly insensitive’.

Rudd said as Prime Minister he would fight to save the lives of Australians on Death Row overseas. But he wouldn’t intervene over convicted terrorists.

Back then Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer was also twisting and turning.  He said Australia would appeal for clemency to the Indonesian president on behalf of the Bali Nine but not on behalf of the Indonesians and not on behalf of the Bali bombers.

As I said the pending executions will test the conscience of a lot of death penalty opponents. Are we only opposed if the killers are Australian?

We don’t protest every time there is an execution in Japan, or India, or China or even the United States. So how firmly opposed to capital punishment are they? Surely you must have a universal stance.

If you argue that you don’t oppose the execution of the Bali bombers out of respect for the victims’ families then what about the families of those slaughtered by Julian Knight and Martin Bryant?

One Labor MP, Melissa Parke, is being honest. I don’t agree with her but she says the death sentences for the Bali bombers should be commuted.

But there are few others prepared to go public with what they know is an unpopular position.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

© Copyright Derryn Hinch 2008