Aussies sick of refugee blame game



THE Greens say it’s time Prime Minister Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott stopped blaming each other and got on with building a better onshore processing system for refugees.


The federal government should resettle more people directly from Malaysia and Indonesia to lessen the number of boat arrivals, Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.

Ms Gillard this week conceded she could not implement the proposed Malaysia refugee swap deal because she could not get legislation aimed at reviving it through the parliament.

She blamed Mr Abbott for the defeat of the legislation, which would have reinstated the government’s power to send asylum seekers to third countries.

But the Australian people are sick of the “blame game,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

“We need to use this as an opportunity to fix the system,” she said.

“An Australian solution is absolutely paramount. Onshore processing is a fair system where people are not locked up in long-term detention.”

Asked if she believed more boats would arrive as a result of onshore processing, Senator Hanson-Young said, “I don’t think so”.

“But I think what we need to be doing is resettling more people directly from places like Malaysia and Indonesia,” she said.

“Unless we change our approach to direct resettlement from those countries, then people will be left with no option but taking that awful journey by boat.”

The majority of Australians want a practical and humane solution and one that doesn’t cost the Australian taxpayer billions of dollars, Senator Hanson-Young added.

“The best way forward is onshore (processing) with time limits on detention and an increase in resettlement numbers.”

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