BY SARAH STEPHEN
The ALP shut down its working party on refugee policy on November 12, after only two meetings. This is a substantial blow to Labor for Refugees, which agreed to its membersÂ’ involvement in the working party in return for a commitment not to discuss refugee policy at the special national conference held October 5-6.
The October conference was billed by Labor leader Simon Crean as a step towards democratising the party, reducing the influence of unions and factions and giving members more of a say, so gagging any discussion about refugees seemed a little odd. Crean got around this by arguing that as this was a “rules” conference, it should not discuss policy.
Labor for Refugees ran a concerted campaign within the party to have the refugee issue discussed at the conference. It collected over 2000 petition signatures, and argued that, given a majority of state ALP branches had passed motions supporting a different policy, members should be able to discuss this at a national gathering. In mid-September, the Queensland ALP administrative committee passed a motion, ignoring CreanÂ’s pleas not to, which called for the conference to debate the refugee issue.
On October 4, the day before the conference began, intense negotiations between Crean, NSW left-wing frontbencher Anthony Albanese, NSW Labor Council secretary John Robertson and others resulted in the compromise deal — to include Labor for Refugees on a new policy committee and delay a final decision on asylum-seeker policy until after a vote at the next national conference.
While RobertsonÂ’s initial proposal was for a far more democratic committee, set up from the conference, the national temporary working party of eight members was appointed by the national executive, including Robertson and Nick Martin from Labor for Refugees, the remainder made up largely of MPs.
A motion passed by the national executive committee on October 4 stated that the “working party meet for the purposes of identifying and considering the principles upon which the party’s refugee policy be formulated.”
ALP immigration spokeperson Julia Gillard told the November 8 Canberra Times: “I always assumed it would be a very short-term job that would take one or two meetings... The committee is not there to go through policy ... This process was to give Labor for Refugees and others with views and expertise in this area an opportunity to make a contribution”.
The November 8 Canberra Times quoted Labor for Refugees sources, who did not want to be named, saying, “We’re really hopeful that the leadership will move” and “We didn’t go into this to be patted on the head or sidelined.”
In an article on the Canberra Refugee Action Committee (RAC) web site, Martin wrote “mounting pressure created headlines right across the country and forced the leadership into an historic compromise with its own rank and file... Those who want to paint this as a loss are incorrect... [The working group] was a huge win for the refugee rights movement.”
91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly tried to contact both Robertson and Martin for their reactions to the closure of the working group, but neither returned our calls.
As Public Servants for Refugees activist Andrew Hall noted in a reply to Martin, also on the Canberra RAC web site, “The committee is a sop to distract Labor for Refugees activists from pursuing a more effective strategy: maintaining and increasing mass pressure for policy change through public displays of opposition to mandatory detention alongside the growing refugee-rights movement.”
Canberra RAC expects Gillard to announce LaborÂ’s refugee policy some time in December, and will organise a snap protest against the policy on the day it is released. Check their web site for details .
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, November 27, 2002.
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