Socialist Alliance Senate candidate for the upcoming federal election, Sharon Firebrace, has dismissed Labor鈥檚 proposal, to send asylum seekers to an off-shore processing centre in Dili, as 鈥渁nother chapter in our country鈥檚 racist shame".
Ms Firebrace, who founded the Aboriginal Genocide Centre, plans to make both Northern Territory Intervention measures and refugee rights a key part of her election platform.
鈥淧rime Minister Gillard is typecasting refugees as inherent wrongdoers when she says that Australians expect them to 鈥榣earn the rules under which we live鈥 and that 鈥榃e will ensure refugees shoulder the same obligations as Australians generally.鈥 It鈥檚 the same racist paternalism that underlies the Northern Territory Intervention measures. John Howard suspended the Racial Discrimination Act to allow the Northern Territory Intervention and Prime Minister Gillard suspended 鈥榩olitical correctness鈥 to gear up for a Boat People Bashing election campaign."
If elected to parliament, Ms Firebrace said the Socialist Alliance policy would be to abolish the requirement for migrants' sponsors to pay an up-front bond and to end the two-year waiting period for new migrants to access social security payments. The Craigieburn single mum is also calling for the immediate release of some 50 asylum seekers being held in the Melbourne Immigration Transit Centre in Broadmeadows.
鈥淧rime Minister Gillard admits that Australia has taken only 0.6 per cent of the world鈥檚 refugees. In fact it would take 30 years of refugee boat arrivals, at the current rate, to fill the MCG. Yet both major parties are trying to outdo each other in proposing ever more expensive, bureaucratic and dehumanising off-shore 鈥榮olutions鈥 to our refugee 鈥榩roblem.鈥
鈥淭he prime minister thinks, 鈥楶eople like my own [migrant] parents who have worked hard all their lives can't abide the idea that others might get an inside track to special privileges.鈥 Well people like my own Indigenous parents, like the immigrant parents of many second generation Australians, who fought against discrimination and assimilation, who held out hope that Labor would change their lot, can鈥檛 abide this resurgence of racism and class divisions,鈥 Ms Firebrace said.
For more information or to arrange interviews contact Sue Bolton 9639 8622, 0413 377 978
Ms Firebrace requests the opportunity to address migrant and progressive community organisations to speak to her policies.
More information about the Socialist Alliance Refugee Policy .