If I was king for a day...

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Mass murder in Australia

 
(Andrew Brownbill/EPA)

The Australian Prime Minister accused arsonists of “mass murder” today as the death toll from savage bushfires sweeping parts of the country reached 131.

What on earth motivates people to start fires like that? It's horrific.

Justice finally prevails in Australia

A German doctor whose family was twice denied permanent residency in Australia because of his son’s Down syndrome has been allowed to stay after the immigration minister intervened on his behalf.

Dr. Bernhard Moeller moved to Australia with his wife and three children nearly three years ago when he was hired to work as a specialist at a rural hospital in the southern state of Victoria.

The family decided to apply for permanent residency, but were appalled when their application was rejected this month because Dr. Moeller’s 13-year-old son, Lukas, has Down syndrome.

Australia has a longstanding policy of weighing medical conditions in its residency decisions. Any applicant deemed to have a condition that would incur significant costs to the state-run health care system must be rejected under Australia’s immigration laws.

The Moellers appealed the ruling to the Migration Review Tribunal, the immigration department’s appellate court, but it upheld the decision. As a final resort, the family took the case to the federal immigration minister, Sen. Chris Evans.

Do you think the Moellers would have been allowed to stay if John Howard was still in power?

Full story in the NYT

      

Sanctuary Refugee Foundation

One of the privileges of speaking about global migration issues is that I have come into contact with exceptional people who devote their lives to helping the less fortunate.

Sue and Peter Hallam set up the Sanctuary Refugee Foundation in 1988 after what they describe as 'a life-changing experience' in Mexico, where they spent time with a priest who was sheltering destitute Salvadoran refugees. After returning from Mexico, and working with refugees in Canada, the Hallams and their three sons migrated to Australia in November 1987, settling in Coffs Harbour on the north coast of New South Wales.

The Sanctuary Refugee Foundation sponsors and assists refugees who are in desperate situations overseas. Over the last 20 years they have helped thousands of refugees from many war-torn countries, including Chile, El Salvador, Vietnam, Iraq, Burma, Bosnia and Southern Sudan. On arrival, refugees are assisted with accommodation, furniture, food, clothing and are generally welcomed into the community.

If you want to make a donation, click here.

Hurrah!

I don't have anything particularly insightful or sophisticated to say about the results of Australia's election. I just want to celebrate John Howard's defeat.

What fantastic news!

Let's hope Labor delivers a fairer and more humane immigration policy that restores Australia's tattered reputation and heals the wounds to the country's vibrant multicultural society.

Letting in unskilled workers is not 'un-Australian'

Australia's Herald Sun reports that:

A British migration expert said yesterday Australia should open its borders to unskilled rather than skilled Asian migrants to do the dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs locals shunned.

Philippe Legrain, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics' European Institute, also accused the Government of racism over its approach to African refugees.

"I think it's the most crude, electioneering racism," he said.

A spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said opening the borders to unskilled migrants would be catastrophic.

"The idea of bringing in people to do low-skilled, low-paid jobs is, frankly, un-Australian," she said.

Rubbish. Indeed, some people might say that the Howard government's policy towards refugees'  is not only un-Australian; it's unethical and inhumane.

On migration in Melbourne

I am currently in Melbourne, attending and speaking at the 12th international Metropolis conference on migration. Yesterday I spoke about migration and the global economy, and tomorrow I'll be speaking on the benefits of diversity.

Melbourne's leading newspaper, The Age, published a leader yesterday praising my contribution:

Immigration is not as simple as its critics make out: the these-foreigners-who-come-in-and-take-our-jobs argument has long been discredited in favour of a more optimistic reality. Another delegate, Philippe Legrain, visiting fellow at the London School of Economics European Institute, says that foreigners create jobs, too, as well as creating future generations of talent just as deserving of opportunity and success as other Australian children. Mr Legrain makes a valuable contribution in criticising Australia's much-copied points system for vetting immigrants as "wrong-headed … government officials picking winners", and too narrow to embrace diversity or changes to the nature of immigration. The phrase "international mobility" — whereby people, encouraged by economic opportunities and less strict entry requirements, can move freely between various countries — is indicative of a new progressiveness rather than permanency. Sadly, it seems that it will be a while before Australia adopts such a progressive attitude. Eleven-and-a-half years of conservative government have tightened, not loosened, the wire on the fence, and the small-minded and prejudicial parts of society continue to act accordingly.

Life Matters

I was a guest on ABC Radio National's Life Matters on 5 July, talking about opening borders. I was severely jetlagged, but hopefully not completely incoherent. Listen to it here

The Elephant and the Dragon

I'm just back from the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, which was great. The 24-hour flight and 8 1/2-hour time difference are still killers though. I participated in a discussion about the future of India and China on my first evening at the festival, which was rebroadcast on ABC's programme The National Interest. I also gave a talk about my book, and participated in a panel discussion called People without Borders.

Apart from jetlag, one reason I haven't updated my blog for a while is that the Adelaide Hilton, where the Festival were very kindly putting me up, charges an outrageously expensive $25 for 2 hours' wireless internet access. So my internet time was tightly rationed, which was really tough for an internet junkie like me.

Adelaide Festival of Ideas

I'm delighted to be speaking at the Adelaide Festival of Ideas next week. I'm talking at three events on Thursday 5 July and Friday 6 July. For more details, see the schedule. I'm also due to be interviewed on ABC Radio National's Life Matters show on Thursday 5 at 8:45am Adelaide time, or 9:15am Sydney time. I'm really looking forward to it.