Migration Act amendments knocked back
In dramatic scenes today the federal government decided to drop its controversial migration amendment act from the Senate’s list of order of business after a number of government senators announced they would either abstain or vote against the bill. Refugee advocates expressed concern over the extremely limited avenues of appeal open to those being held in offshore detention centres. But some Government senators were also concerned that the bill gave the impression that Indonesia could dictate Australian domestic policy as the bill was primarily aimed at stopping West Papuans – fleeing their war-torn province in Indonesia – from seeking asylum here. Charman Nasuri came from Afghanistan in 2001 and was sent to Nauru after being housed on Christmas Island. It took him a further three years to gain a temporary humanitarian visa to come to Australia. He gave me his reaction to the news today. And a short time ago Professor John Warhurst from the Political Science Department of the Australian National University discussed the impact of today’s events in Canberra.