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Simon (compassion-incarnate) Crean was quick to point out that John (preemptive
defense) Howard timed his remarks to overshadow the overwhelming ALP win in
Victoria. But Simon is pretty quick to criticize others for doing the same
thing he is. The ALP chose to leak some of their asylum seeker policy when
they knew it would be squeezed onto page 10. Their new policy? The details
have yet to be given, but 'no detainee shall be in detention for longer that
three months'. It's hard enough to check out a story from someone claiming to be persecuted by
a belligerent country, but preventing people from entering mainstream Australia
is one way to encourage them to tell the truth. But under an ALP government?
Presumably any asylum seeker who does a Baktiari (ie keeps 'refining' his story),
cannot have his application processed within three months, and will just be let
them out into the community. Who would bother telling the truth with this system? This is clearly the only compromise that the ALP could agree on. The ALP are
totally split on the asylum-seeker issue and can't find a solution which will
satisfy both their redneck unionists and the feminist academics. The prickly
truce between these parties which carried the ALP to victory through the 1980s
and early 1990s is over. The feminists are voting Green, and the rednecks are
voting Liberal. They could paper over the cracks for a while, but now the
gloves are off, and the ugly schism is there for all to see. As are the
ridiculous wishy-washy, half baked and unworkable policies it is producing. Simon doesn't want this policy examined in detail, so he is leaking the worst
bits at times when people are distracted by other matters. He is walking a thin
line, and risks getting thrown overboard in protest. And who could he blame for
that?
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