On Ya Bike

There was a headline in The Australian that really caught my eye this morning. It read:  Rioters demand to be sent home. My initial response: On ya bike, sunshine. The story says, more than 100 Indonesians started rioting on Sunday at the immigration detention centre in Darwin.
 
Some of them climbed on to the roof, several small fires were set, and some rioters handed over a letter asking to be returned to Indonesia with a promise not to return to Australia.

If that’s the case… send them back. Pronto.

In fairness, one of the reasons for the protest is that some of the illegals have waited in detention for nine months without being charged as people smugglers. And that is too long. But, if they want to just go home… then ‘bye ‘bye.

The boat people issue was an election issue with Tony Abbott’s repeated three-word pledge to ‘Stop the boats’.

He claimed that one of the first things he would do on taking office would be to pick up the phone to the president of Nauru and re-open the detention centre there.

Julia Gillard made that claim early in the campaign that she was having talks with East Timor’s president, Jose Ramos-Horta, but that seems to have drifted off the agenda since heavy opposition from the East Timorese Parliament.

Meanwhile, the boat they keep acoming.

Another boast carrying 33 passengers and two crew was intercepted north of Christmas Island this morning.  That brings to 91 the number of boats so far this year. Since election day the Navy has picked up 84 boat people.

Labor adopted a harder line on boat people during the election but I wonder if that has softened as they woo the Greens for that Lower House vote. The Greens policy on asylum seekers is much softer than either major party. And what do the Three Amigos think?

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

© Copyright Derryn Hinch 2010