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| Little Johnny's border protection | |
When someone suffers an injustice, either real or imagined, they generally
want compensation. In uncivilized nations, this consists of the receiving the
pleasure of revenge - usually the massacre of
innocent people. But in civilized western countries, we
just sue people, and take their money. And determined to not make an exception to the rule, mentally suspect
ex-wrongful immigration detainee Cornelia Rau has demanded compensation from
the Howard Government. But there is a twist here. Australian resident Cornelia Rau spent some 8
months in detention after identifying herself as German Citizen Anna Schmidt,
and claiming to have been brought to Australia by people smugglers. If she had
said 'actually guys, my name is Cornelia Rau, and I'm a permanent resident',
she would have been released in less time than it takes a public servant to
write a memo on 'collective responsibility'. But she didn't - presumably
because she was mentally ill. Except that in her press conference demanding compensation, she claimed that
she was not mentally ill. And if she wasn't mentally ill, she was lying about
her identity, and has to take responsibility for her incarceration, in which
case she can't expect compensation! The best defence for the government lawyers to prove Cornelia is sane - and she
will presumably help them as much as she can. What kind of twit sues the government, and then helps to prove that they are
not entitled to compensation? This behavior is insane! ... hang on. Maybe that's the point. Cornelia is either very clever, or
totally bonkers. Meanwhile, many Australians
will be looking to see how much compo they can get for wrongful detention, and
weighing up the pros and cons of handing themselves in to the local police
station claiming to be electrical
plumbers from Quetta or something. Think about it - you get to be deported to an exotic far away place, and then
get flown home and paid compensation when you are sick of it. Beats working for a living.
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