Public sentiment on asylum seekers has shifted, and Labor must use the looming parliamentary term to “give Australia’s hopeful side a fair chance to prevail over the politics of fear, and division” according to the shadow minister for multicultural affairs, Andrew Giles.
Giles will use a speech to Australian Fabians on Wednesday to argue the recent community debate around the medical evacuations bill, and the tone of the federal election, suggests Australians are over the toxic politics of border protection, and are fatigued by the “false binaries and unnecessary aggression” from the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton.
The Victorian leftwinger will say it was notable that border protection, and the “demonisation of asylum seekers” did not feature front and centre in the 2019 federal election, which is unusual compared with previous federal contests. “I’m not sure if we can quite characterise this as something to celebrate, but it is a significant development – something to build upon.”
Giles says the “noise” of the hyper-partisan conflict over border protection policy that has raged in Australia since the Tampa standoff “has crowded out both a reasoned and reasonable exchange of ideas, and the voices of those whose lives are directly affected by the policy choices we make”.
“We have to change this. We have to give Australia’s hopeful side a fair chance to prevail over the politics of fear, and division.”
“Australians are rightly proud of our immigration story, and should be concerned at how this government has been undermining its foundations,” Giles says. “It’s our job to call out the dog-whistling rhetoric, and to expose what lies beneath it.”
He will point to the devaluing of immigration and settlement functions within the home affairs structure and “extraordinary delays” in visa processing and citizenship applications. “They don’t just frustrate the affected individuals, they affect our society at large.”
Giles says Labor will continue to oppose a controversial planned privatisation of visa processing and call out instances where particular communities are singled out for abuse.
“Governments should seek to bring people together, that’s been the modern story of settlement in Australia, and of our commitment to multiculturalism,” he will say.
“But there’s an unease which is easy to appreciate, as some communities feel under pressure and under supported.
Giles, who has been a vocal advocate within Labor for more humane policies on asylum, moved a motion against boat turnbacks at Labor’s 2015 national conference. But the Victorian has subsequently argued he supports interceptions where it is safe to do so.
He references that shift implicitly in the speech. “As the facts have changed, so have some of my views, but not my values, nor my determination to make a difference for the world’s most vulnerable people”.
About Andrew Andrew blogs and tweets public policy issues, particularly the relationship between the political and bureaucratic levels, citizenship and multiculturalism. His latest book, Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias, recounts his experience as a senior public servant in this area.
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 