World | Australia
House set to debate refugee legislation
A new law that would force all asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat to be sent to island detention camps is Parliament's most disturbing Bill in more than a decade, a lawmaker said.
- AP
- Published: 00:00 August 10, 2006
Canberra: A new law that would force all asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat to be sent to island detention camps is Parliament's most disturbing Bill in more than a decade, a lawmaker said.
Governing party members Petro Georgiou and Russell Broadbent broke ranks with their colleagues to oppose the legislation, which was introduced in Parliament yesterday.
A third government lawmaker, Judi Moylan, also spoke out against the Bill, but did not declare whether she would defy Prime Minister John Howard by voting against it or abstain.
The Bill was drafted after Indonesia strongly protested an earlier Australian decision to accept 43 asylum seekers from the restive Indonesian province of Papua as refugees.
Greek-born Georgiou said Australia's treatment of asylum seekers had improved in the past year, but "Parliament is now being asked to approve a newer and severely regressive measure."
The Bill "is the most profoundly disturbing piece of legislation I have encountered since becoming a member of Parliament" in 1994, he said.
Broadbent said asylum seekers would not have the same legal protections if they were sent to a detention camp on the impoverished South Pacific nation of Nauru.
While it is not clear whether the dissent within the centre-right government's ranks would be enough to defeat the legislation, it creates a destabilising rift as Howard seeks re-election next year.
Howard said he had already made compromises in the legislation because of concerns raised by a minority of critics within his ruling coalition.
"A lot of changes have been made to accommodate the concerns of some colleagues but in the end, as happens in any democratic party, the overwhelming majority view must be respected," Howard said.
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