Keywords: Immigration Department
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AUSTRALIA
- Moira Rayner
- 15 September 2011
21 Comments
I'm not worried about Gillard's abysmal rating in polls. I'm not convinced anyone but journalists and backbiters have any real desire to roll her. There is no obvious alternative to Gillard as Labor leader, but there is an obvious need for a party which stands for something.
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AUSTRALIA
- Kerry Murphy
- 24 August 2011
4 Comments
This week as we mark the 10th anniversary of Tampa, the High Court is hearing a legal challenge to the Malaysian solution and an inquiry into suicide and self-harm in detention is underway. Meanwhile a new report hopes to change the direction of the debate on refugees.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 19 July 2011
12 Comments
This is not a regional solution to a regional problem, but a bilateral attempt at solving an Australian problem. To stop the boats, one needs to engage in measures contrary to the Refugee Convention. Church groups can not endorse something they know to be either unworkable or immoral.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 18 July 2011
5 Comments
When I appeared on Q&A with Christopher Hitchens, a young man asked whether we can 'ever hope to live in a truly secular society' while the religious continue to 'affect political discourse and decision making' on euthanasia, same-sex unions and abortion. Hitchens was simpaticao. I was dumbstruck.
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MEDIA
Officially, the ban on journalists interviewing or filming asylum seekers in detention is for the detainees' protection. But it also stops them from sharing their stories with the public. Surely asylum seekers are capable of determining who is and is not acting in their best interests.
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AUSTRALIA
- Kerry Murphy
- 23 June 2011
2 Comments
The Rudd Government promised positive reforms after a decade of 'boat people'-bashing from the previous government. Three years later, we are back where we were. To understand how this happened it is helpful to overview the changes under Labor and the gradual decline in 'key immigration values'.
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AUSTRALIA
- Kerry Murphy
- 28 April 2011
26 Comments
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship say they can't tell me anything. The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security tells me to contact DIAC. As an immigration lawyer I find this frustrating. How much worse must it be for asylum seekers kept in detention with no end in sight?
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INTERNATIONAL
- Kerry Murphy
- 22 March 2011
6 Comments
The reintroduction of the Complementary Protection Bill to Parliament this week ought be welcomed. Given the protests in Christmas Island, it is clear that the mandatory detention policy is also overdue for reform.
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RELIGION
- Paul Collins
- 03 March 2011
46 Comments
The troubles facing Australian Catholicism have been documented in a new report. When people focus on this most think of sexual abuse. In fact this is more a symptom than the actual core of the problem.
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EUREKA STREET TV
- Peter Kirkwood
- 24 February 2011
2 Comments
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EUREKA STREET TV
- Peter Kirkwood
- 24 February 2011
Renowned immigration lawyer Kerry Murphy explains how changes in government refugee policy are strongly coloured by community fears about migrants and refugees.
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EDUCATION
- Chris Middleton
- 08 February 2011
48 Comments
A recent poll shows 70 per cent of people think the Federal Government gives too much money to private schools. Catholic schools have contributed enormously to the Australian community, and thus make a claim for some funding on the basis of the common good.
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