The Guardian 28 June, 2006
Asylum seekers:
Coalition backbenchers’ stubborn rebellion
One of the Howard Government’s major fears is the loss of its control of Parliament. Although the party membership among Parliamentarians is unchanged, the Government is now on the verge of suffering a parliamentary defeat at the hands of some of its own Parliamentary members.
At stake is the treatment of asylum seekers who reach Australian territory by boat. Coalition MPs had previously objected to the enforced, off-shore and prolonged detention of families with children. Subsequently, the Howard Government very grudgingly reached an agreement with them that visa applicants in this category would have their applications processed in Australia and be detained in community accommodation.
When the government more recently granted temporary protection visas to a group of West Papuan asylum seekers, effectively acknowledging their claims of persecution by Indonesia, the Indonesian Government launched a furious diplomatic attack. Showing clear signs of panic, Howard immediately sought to dump the agreement with his own MPs, and to initiate new legislation for the off-shore detention of ALL asylum-seekers arriving in Australian territory by boat.
Not surprisingly, the Coalition MPs who had previously objected to this very policy objected bitterly.
This issue is not the only one over which conservative MPs have raised objections. The banning of the abortion pill RU486, the Snowy hydro sell-off and the overruling of the ACT civil union legislation, have all resulted in opposition from coalition MPs, and even "crossing the floor" to vote against government legislation.
Recently, the government’s continuation of the ban on therapeutic cloning for medical research has even caused a split within Cabinet.
In the case of asylum seekers the government has painted itself into a tight corner by its servile appeasement of the Indonesian Government. Its "solution", the new legislation for off-shore processing of all asylum-seekers, is unacceptable to the Coalition rebels, but acceding to their wishes would enrage the Indonesians, as well as those Coalition MPs who support the government’s current line.
Belatedly, the government has offered promises. It has offered to improve conditions for detainees by such means as housing families in residential-style community accommodation; improving the speed with which visa applications have to be processed at both ministerial and department level by ending the indefinite detention of applicants who cannot be found another country that would accept them; and by allowing the Commonwealth Ombudsman to review the cases of people detained for longer than two years.
The new law would also be reviewed every two years and there would be a five-year sunset clause.
These promises have not addressed the essence of MPs’ concerns who remain dissatisfied. Key Liberal Senator Judith Rothe commented: "I believe out-of-sight could be out-of-mind. … I am unhappy with the whole idea of offshore processing." As a result, there are now few opportunities for the government to compromise with the rebels.
The Indonesian Government is said to be watching events in Canberra with great interest. Because of the opposition from the dissident MPs, Howard has now been forced to defer introduction of the new legislation until Parliament resumes in August. He will be hard put to win over the dissident parliamentarians during this period. In the meantime he faces a humiliating meeting with the Indonesian Government this week.
ALP leader Kim Beazley declared that Howard "should have the courage to explain to the Indonesian President that our laws are our business…"
For the Indonesians rulers, the issues at stake include not only their brutal suppression of the independence movement West Papua but also Australia’s compliance.
For the Howard Government, their attempts to win over the rebels have so far proved fruitless. There is the danger that a continuation of the current impasse would not only see the Bill defeated, but effectively threaten the government’s domination of both Houses of Parliament, and might even result in an early general election.
The rebel MPs are under extreme pressure to force them to change their position. They have even been accused of deliberately using the asylum seeker issue to attack their own government, and Liberal MP Don Randall recently denounced them as anarchists.
As for the rebel Coalition MPs, on the issue of asylum seekers they have taken a commendable stand as a matter of principle, despite vicious recriminations from their peers.
May they continue to do so, until the defeat of this inhumane legislation.
And may the Howard Government fall from power as soon as possible.