One of the hottest topics of this campaign has been ‘boat people’.  So hot – that it has even made the Liberal Party’s Top 4 in their Action Plan.  Julia Gillard has also made pledges to ‘stop the people smugglers’. 

Immigration is also high on the agenda.   But what I find really interesting is that somehow these two subjects have become one – in fact, if you are looking for the Liberal Party’s Immigration Policy on their website, you need to look under “National Security”.

Immigration is extremely important to Australia.  It brings skilled workers here, many who are willing to settle in rural and regional areas.  The increase in population of these areas brings with it the flow on of more retail spending and higher demand for services, which helps the employment of the local population.  Allowing international students into Australia has a similar effect on retail spending and services, not to mention the large amounts of money the institutions receive.   There are also some experts who believe that the money that many migrants send to their families overseas is more significant than the aid we send to these same countries.  We are also faced with an ageing population and so why shouldn’t we encourage younger, skilled people to migrate here?

The Liberal Party’s Immigration policy includes reducing the number of people migrating to Australia by approximately 40%.  This doesn’t seem unreasonable.  There is no point allowing people to migrate here if they settle in the same urban areas where there are already pressures on infrastructure and services.

What is unreasonable is suggesting that the people coming to Australia seeking asylum are somehow ‘taking the place’ of migrants or ‘queue jumping’; that we can somehow compare the two groups.

People who wish to migrate to Australia need to be related to an Australian citizen; skilled in a specific occupation as listed by the Dept of Immigration; or sponsored by an employer.  If you are a student wishing to come to Australia, your application is based on the country you are from and your area of study.  These people are coming here to work and/or study.

Asylum seekers are coming here to avoid torture and death.   And most of them, despite what most media tell you; do not arrive here on a boat.  They arrive by plane.  In fact, in 2008 more than 95% of the people who arrived in Australia seeking refugee status, arrived by plane.   And also contrary to what most  people think, they are not terrorists.   They are scared, illiterate, hungry and poor.  Australia has an obligation to accept refugees.  Not just an international obligation but a moral obligation.  Of the 15.2 million people classed by the United Nations as refugees in 2009, Australia accepted less than 0.2% of them.

What Australia needs is a quick, efficient  and compassionate way to process people arriving in our country seeking asylum.  Why shouldn’t we take responsibility for processing  these people here in Australia?  Why not treat these people with empathy and dignity?  Why not give them immediate access to medical treatment and legal services?

So far, in my opinion, the only Party whose policies reflect any decency are the Greens.  Their policy document, available on their website, details the needs of both Australia and asylum seekers and I applaud them for this.

Now, I should add, in the interest of balance, I did look at One Nation’s website to compare policies.  And after reading for 5 minutes, I had to stop.  There were so many problems with what was written on that site that I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cringe!  (But maybe this is the perfect subject for a later article…)

My question is - will you allow media hype and political scare tactics to sway your decision about Immigration and Refugees, or will you seek factual information about all the types of people trying to migrate to our amazing country before voting?