{"id":29268,"date":"2015-07-11T11:05:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-11T01:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=29268"},"modified":"2019-04-13T23:54:28","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T13:54:28","slug":"politicians-ignore-questions-about-detention-of-refugees-julianburnside-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/politicians-ignore-questions-about-detention-of-refugees-julianburnside-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"Politicians ignore questions about detention of #refugees: @JulianBurnside reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note:<\/strong> This piece previously published on Julian Burnside’s website: http:\/\/www.julianburnside.com.au\/politicians-ignore-questions-about-detention-of-refugees\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Barnaby

Barnaby Joyce gave a non-responsive answer, referred questions to Immigration Minister. Photo: Bidgee Wikimedia<\/p><\/div>\n

It is a miserable thing to report, but our politicians who inflict unspeakable misery on refugees are apparently not willing to explain themselves.<\/p>\n

An Australian citizen recently wrote to six Federal MPs asking a couple of very simple questions.\u00a0 Each letter was less than a page long.\u00a0 Five of the six MPs simply ignored her letters.\u00a0 Apart for being bad manners, it shows utter contempt for the electorate.\u00a0 The worst offenders \u2013 the ones who simply ignored the letters \u2013 are:<\/p>\n

Josh Frydenberg \u2013 ignored every letter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kevin Andrews \u2013 ignored every letter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah Henderson \u2013 ignored every letter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Sukkar \u2013 ignored every letter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alan Tudge \u2013 ignored every letter<\/strong><\/p>\n

The only MP who responded to the letters was Barnaby Joyce.\u00a0 He referred the letters to the Minister for Immigration.<\/p>\n

Have a\u00a0 look at the list below.\u00a0 See how simple the questions are.<\/p>\n

If Federal MPs are not willing to answer sensible, simple questions like these, they do not deserve to be in parliament at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
MP<\/td>\nQuestion<\/td>\nresponse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kevin Andrews<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent children?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Josh Frydenberg<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent children?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sarah Henderson<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent children?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alan Tudge<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent children?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barnaby Joyce<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent children?<\/td>\nreferred question to Minister of Immigration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barnaby Joyce<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent children?<\/td>\nreferred question to Minister of Immigration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kevin Andrews<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Josh Frydenberg<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sarah Henderson<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alan Tudge<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barnaby Joyce<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent people?<\/td>\nreferred question to Minister of Immigration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barnaby Joyce<\/td>\nDo you believe it is right to imprison innocent people?<\/td>\nreferred question to Minister of Immigration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kevin Andrews<\/td>\nDo you believe people commit an offence by arriving in Australia without permission and seeking asylum?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Josh Frydenberg<\/td>\nDo you believe people commit an offence by arriving in Australia without permission and seeking asylum?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sarah Henderson<\/td>\nDo you believe people commit an offence by arriving in Australia without permission and seeking asylum?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael Sukkar<\/td>\nDo you believe people commit an offence by arriving in Australia without permission and seeking asylum?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alan Tudge<\/td>\nDo you believe people commit an offence by arriving in Australia without permission and seeking asylum?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barnaby Joyce<\/td>\nDo you believe people commit an offence by arriving in Australia without permission and seeking asylum?<\/td>\nnon-responsive answer, referred question to Minister of Immigration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kevin Andrews<\/td>\nHow much does it cost each year to pursue our policy of deterrence of boat people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Josh Frydenberg<\/td>\nHow much does it cost each year to pursue our policy of deterrence of boat people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sarah Henderson<\/td>\nHow much does it cost each year to pursue our policy of deterrence of boat people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael Sukkar<\/td>\nHow much does it cost each year to pursue our policy of deterrence of boat people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alan Tudge<\/td>\nHow much does it cost each year to pursue our policy of deterrence of boat people?<\/td>\ndid not respond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barnaby Joyce<\/td>\nHow much does it cost each year to pursue our policy of deterrence of boat people?<\/td>\nnon-responsive answer, referred question to Minister of Immigration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

More letters to elected representatives, but\u2026how disappointing they are<\/h3>\n

Note:<\/strong> This piece previously published on Julian Burnside’s website:<\/em> http:\/\/www.julianburnside.com.au\/more-letters-to-elected-representatives-but-how-disappointing-they-are\/<\/a><\/p>\n

A resident of Niddrie in Victoria had the stamina to write to 45 Senators and to Bill Shorten about some basic facts concerning boat people.<\/p>\n

She asked just two simple questions:<\/p>\n

1. In your personal opinion, are asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat treated humanely?
\n2. Do you consider that people who arrive in Australia informally and seek asylum should be called \u201cillegal\u201d?<\/p>\n

For those in doubt on the second question, it is important to note that people who arrive in Australia informally and seek asylum commit no offence under Australian law.<\/p>\n

The results of her efforts were disappointing, for two reasons.<\/p>\n

First, because most simply did not reply.\u00a0 You would hope that our elected representatives would have the courtesy to reply to a letter from a member of the public, espoecially on an issue which is so divisive.<\/p>\n

Second, because most of those who did reply simply did not answer the questions.<\/p>\n

Here are the ones who did not reply at all.\u00a0 Note their names.\u00a0 When they ask for your vote, ignore them:<\/p>\n

Senator BACK
\nSenator BERNARDI
\nSenator BILYK
\nSenator BIRMINGHAM
\nSenator BRANDIS
\nSenator BROWN
\nSenator BULLOCK
\nSenator BUSHBY
\nSenator CAMERON
\nSenator CANAVAN
\nSenator CARR
\nSenator CASH
\nSenator COLBECK
\nSenator COLLINS
\nSenator CONROY
\nSenator DASTYARI
\nSenator EDWARDS
\nSenator FAWCETT
\nSenator FIERRAVANTI-WELLS
\nSenator FIFIELD
\nSenator GALLAGHER
\nSenator JOHNSTON
\nSenator LAMBIE
\nSenator LAZARUS
\nSenator LINES
\nSenator LUDWIG
\nSenator LUNDY
\nSenator MACDONALD
\nSenator MADIGAN
\nSenator MARSHALL
\nSenator MASON
\nSenator MCEWEN
\nSenator MCGRATH
\nSenator MUIR
\nSenator RONALDSON<\/p>\n

The following senators replied, but did not answer the questions asked:<\/p>\n

Senator CORMANN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0did not answer questions
\nSenator DAY\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0did not answer questions
\nSenator FAULKNER\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0did not answer questions
\nSenator KETTER\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0did not answer questions, but says we must treat refugees in a \u201cdignified, humane way\u201d
\nSenator LEYONHJELM\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0did not answer questions
\nSenator MCKENZIE\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0did not answer the questions, but refers to people entering the country \u201cillegally\u201d
\nSenator MCLUCAS\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0did not answer the questions but says Labor is driven by \u201ccompassion, fairness and generosity\u201d
\nBill Shorten MP\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0did not answer questions, but says we must treat refugees in a \u201cdignified, human way\u201d.\u00a0 Several paragraphs are identical to corresponding paragraphs in Sen Ketter\u2019s letter<\/p>\n

These three are in categories of their own:<\/p>\n

Senator HEFFERNAN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 said it is illegal to enter Australia without a visa (he supported this by reference to international instruments, not Australian law
\nSenator RYAN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 said it is illegal to enter Australia without a visa (he supported this by reference to international instruments, not Australian law, says the government is \u201ccommitted to treating (asylum seekers) in a fair, respectful and humane manner\u201d<\/p>\n

And finally, Senator ABETZ answered yes to each question!<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that most of the Senators are too discourteous to respond, and the rest are too ignorant of the facts to answer truthfully.<\/p>\n

And it is distressing to think that some senators are so blinkered that they can take shelter behind the tired old line that we treat asylum seekers in a \u201cfair, respectful and humane manner\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: This piece previously published on Julian Burnside’s website: http:\/\/www.julianburnside.com.au\/politicians-ignore-questions-about-detention-of-refugees\/ It is a miserable thing to report, but our politicians who inflict unspeakable misery on refugees are apparently not willing to explain themselves. An Australian citizen recently wrote to six Federal MPs asking a couple of very simple questions.\u00a0 Each letter was less than a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":29272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3434,118,62,585,73,2521,40],"tags":[2525,2601,1031,2589,2522,2392,2523,1774,2524,2578,975],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/barnabyjoyce.jpg?fit=800%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t0mw-7C4","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29268"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}