Labor’s panicked and craven decision to collude with Peter Dutton to jam through draconian, anti-refugee laws will be Anthony Albanese’s Tampa moment, the Greens say.
“These are draconian laws that provide the minister with powers never before seen in Australia and the Greens will not be supporting them,” Greens Immigration Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said
“Peter Dutton and the Murdoch media have confected an emergency and Labor has predictably collapsed under the pressure just as they did when the MV Tampa hove over the horizon.”
“Instead of standing firm against Dutton’s fear-mongering, Labor has collapsed and is pursuing harsh and punitive measures against refugees.”
“These laws allow for visa conditions to be imposed which are detention by another name, and criminalises breaches of those conditions with a prison term of up to 5 years.”
“It creates a two-tiered justice system where some migrants, including those not convicted of a crime, will face arbitrary punishment at the stroke of a politician’s pen that cannot be imposed on citizens.”
“This is a disgraceful collapse by Labor which undermines key principles of our liberal democracy.”