Friday 29th of March 2024

tony, the turdy pom, tries to stop the leaks...

 

citizenship

A former senior Liberal minister has launched a scathing attack on the Abbott Government and the Prime Minister's handling of citizenship policy.

Amanda Vanstone, former immigration minister under the Howard government, took aim at Tony Abbott in an opinion column published by Fairfax.

"Tony Abbott is a constitutional monarchist and a self-confessed Anglophile, so for him to tolerate, let alone be at the helm of, a ship that throws the Westminster system of Cabinet government out the window is simply astounding," she said.

"The public will not long tolerate people who say one thing and do another."

Her comments were triggered by the leaked Cabinet discussion over citizenship policy and what she described the lack of "proper process".

The Prime Minister had raised the prospect of a tougher policy — stripping citizenship from suspected terrorists.

Under the proposal, the immigration minister would have the power to decide, and sole nationals could be affected if they were able to apply for citizenship in another country.

Ms Vanstone argued Cabinet ministers were not provided with enough information to make a considered decision on the proposal.

"In fact the very seriousness of the threat terrorism poses and this suggested response demands a full discussion," she said.

"Hoping to flick it through at the end of a Cabinet meeting smacks of trying to get something difficult through without proper discussion.

"That's either lazy, sneaky or both."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-08/amanda-vanstone-scathing-tony-abbott-citizenship-policy/6529278

 

the minister for tightening our back-passage sphincter...

 

When the former Queensland cop-turned-immigration minister entered Parliament, he was unimpressed with the extent of Australian tolerance, and is doing something about that now, hungry for the power of judges for himself.

Not content with routinely exercising the power of God over asylum seekers, he wants the power – for him alone, on little more than a whim – to strip Australians of their citizenship if he suspects they are involved in terrorism.

By removing protections for individuals questioning government action and frittering away ancient liberties in search of better fortnightly polls, Dutton and this government betray Australian democracy.

His little war on individual freedom is waged with the apparent support of the Prime Minister and much of the Liberal backbench, but against the national interest in favour of restraint on executive power.

Those who care for individual freedoms usually have to argue the case against greater executive power by pointing to the bad things a future, less honourable minister might do with it.

Not with Dutton in charge, the most dangerous minister for Immigration since, well, the last one.

Even Cory Bernardi, the arch-conservative senator from South Australia, worries about this particular power grab. "As a matter of principle, I think it's absolutely wrong for us to take away citizenship from an individual whose sole citizenship is Australian," he said last week. "And particularly be able to do it without any reference to a court of law, at the arbitrary whim of the minister."

A court? Pfft. Where's the fun in that for a former cop who's down on things like proof, evidence and fairness?

In his first speech to Parliament, Dutton said: "As a police officer, I have seen the best and the worst that society has to offer. I have seen the wonderful, kind nature of people willing to offer any assistance to those in their worst hour, and I have seen the sickening behaviour displayed by people who, frankly, barely justify their existence in our sometimes over-tolerant society."

There is no danger of him being thought over-tolerant as immigration minister, which presumably is his political objective. Foolish, yes; tolerant, no.

 

 

read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/peter-duttons-citizenship-plan-may-be-as-big-a-threat-to-our-freedom-as-terrorism-itself-20150607-ghif4u.html

even the IPA...

 

While Ms Triggs is under vicious attack from the ideologist boffins of the CONservative Turdy government, while their own human right appointee Tim Wilson is quieter than a dead cockroach on a church pew, on this human rights front, the IPA, former domain of the said Tim, of all places is voicing strong objection to the stripping of citizenship...:

 

 

The Liberal party’s ideological allies in the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) have called on the government to rule out a minister stripping sole nationals of their Australian citizenship, saying this would be “an outrageous attack on the rule of law”.

Simon Breheny, director of the IPA’s legal rights project, also called for the coming legislation dealing with dual nationals to include a comprehensive judicial review process so that a person could challenge the case.

Breheny’s comments come as the government prepares to introduce legislation in the next sitting fortnight to give the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, the power to revoke the Australian citizenship of dual nationals who are deemed to be involved in terrorism even if they have not been convicted of a crime.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/09/right-wing-thinktank-ipa-denounces-coalitions-sole-citizenship-proposal

 

apologies to tim wilson...

above I wrote : "their own human right appointee Tim Wilson is quieter than a dead cockroach on a church pew, on this human rights front"... So far we hadn't heard from him so I thought he was dead...

Suddenly:

Tim Wilson, the Abbott government-appointed human rights commissioner, has called on the Coalition to explain why a minister should have the power to revoke citizenship “on the basis of mere suspicion of terrorism”.

Wilson said a person’s citizenship was the basis of all other rights and any attempt to remove it should be treated with “extreme caution”.

The human rights commissioner is the latest public figure to raise concerns about forthcoming laws that would place the power in the hands of the executive government rather than the courts.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/09/tim-wilson-questions-power-to-revoke-citizenship-on-suspicion-of-terrorism

 

Though his "concerned" questioning is a bit wishy-washy, my apologies to Tim for doubting he was alive. 

I am canadian, je suis canadien...

Despite being a Canadian going back fourteen generations to 1587, She Shepherd captain and anti-whaling activist Paul Watson can no longer enter Canada because Stephen Harper took away his passport to placate Japanese whalers.

I am a Canadian.

Je suis Canadien.

I don't often take sides politically because for the most part political parties everywhere are pretty much all the same when it comes to environmental and conservation issues. Of course many of you will disagree but that's my opinion from a biocentric perspective.

But in Canada's case it is very personal.

I don’t have a Canadian passport.

Why?

Because Stephen Harper took it away from me.

Is it because I’m wanted for a crime in Canada or did I commit a crime in Canada?

No.

There is no Canadian warrant for me in Canada.

Stephen Harper took away my Canadian passport because Japan asked him to take it away.

Why?

Because we opposed illegal Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean, a whaling operation that has been condemned as illegal by the International Court of Justice.

Stephen Harper decided that supporting illegal Japanese whaling was more important than defending the rights of one of his own citizens.

Now, this would have caused me some very serious problems if not for one important consideration.

I hold two passports.

I am both a citizen of Canada, where I was born, as well as a naturalized American citizen.The United States allows me to keep my passport and to travel and live in the United States.

I can still travel because I have the benefit of U.S. citizenship.

But I can't go to Canada.

see more: https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/why-did-canada-take-away-captain-paul-watsons-passport,7813

captain crook killed peter pan a long time ago...

Scott Morrison:

"We've delivered on what we said we'd do for the Australian people. Others can speculate on speculation and on allegations and things of that nature.

"The simple truth is if a boat leaves Indonesia, it's going back.

"That's how this Government operates."

The Opposition's immigration spokesman Richard Marles has requested an urgent independent investigation into the claims.

"Last night I wrote [to] the auditor-general and have asked firstly for an investigation as to whether these bribes have been paid," Mr Marles said.

"If this happened, there are serious questions about the legal basis upon which it has happened."

What we know: People smuggler payment claims

  • Indonesian police say an asylum seeker boat was intercepted by an Australian border patrol after setting off from West Java on May 5
  • A boat ran aground on a reef near remote Rote Island, off West Timor, on June 1
  • It was carrying 65 asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, including four women and three toddlers
  • The asylum seekers told Indonesian police Australians had intercepted them, transferred them onto a more seaworthy wooden boat, gave them dried fruit, biscuits, fuel and life jackets, and escorted them back to Indonesian waters
  • The six crew members told Indonesian authorities they were each given $US5,000 by Australian officials to sail back to Indonesia
  • The asylum seekers also told the UNHCR the crew were paid by Australian authorities


The letter asks, if payments have been made, whether it "would be a proper use of public resources".

"I ask you to consider investigating these concerning circumstances, including if any payment to people smugglers or their agents was made, and if so, the nature of how or whether it was properly authorised," it reads.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has suggested Indonesia better secure its own borders.

"The best way for Indonesia to resolve any concerns it has about Operation Sovereign Borders is for Indonesia to enforce sovereignty over its borders," Ms Bishop told News Corp Australia.

"Operation Sovereign Borders is necessary because Indonesian boats with Indonesian crews are leaving Indonesia with the express intention of breaching our sovereignty, facilitated by illegal people-smuggling syndicates.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-15/morrison-defends-asylum-seeker-stance-amid-call-for-bribe-probe/6545312

tony abbott the brit...

 

Most Australians would have heard by now that our Federal Government has called for a national conversation on citizenship. This phony act of dialogue with the people is accompanied by all sorts of fanfare — flag-saturated press conferences, media releases, terror-mongering rhetoric, cabinet discussion leaks, and a discussion paper that pre-empts the results of the "conversation".

The Government wants to – and will – radically change the extent of executive power over basic citizenship rights, including citizenship itself.

read more: https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/the-citizenship-debate-we-should-be-having,7830

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Yes the only citizenship debate we should have at the moment is about Tony Turdy's own citizenship. He still is a dual citizenship holder  — unless he can provide the proof he entered parliament as "fully and only" Australian as demands the constitution of this fair country in regard to parliamentarians. 

So is TONY ABBOTT an English stooge or as renounced his British citizenship before entering parliament?

This is the citizen ship debate we should have.