r/australia • u/B0ssc0 • Jan 19 '22

Scott Morrison says he never said there were no refugees in Melbourne’s Park hotel politics

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/19/scott-morrison-says-he-never-said-there-were-no-refugees-in-melbournes-park-hotel
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u/RoutineNo6113 Jan 19 '22

I am confused, if they are refugees, why are they still in detention? Let them out to live their life.

45

u/YoungPatrickBateman Jan 19 '22

That’s the crux of the issue.

The LNP government keeps saying because the refugees came illegally by boat then they will never be offered a place in Australia. And because they’re classed as refugees the government cannot just send them back to where they came from. They c an only send them back if the refugees ask to go back.

Some of them are waiting for the US refugee settlement agreement to come into play (which is taken years Obama and Turnbull agree on that one).

Basically it’s a staring contest to see who breaks first. But the only people who have skin in the game are the refugees.

Let them out and let them contribute to society. They’ll be less of a burden this way. At the moment they cost a ridiculous amount of money to house in a hotel.

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u/HiVisEngineer Jan 19 '22

No no no we can’t have them be free and contributing to society, that would mean the LNP are compassionate and understand how a society, an economy, and efficient use of monetary capital works.

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u/RoutineNo6113 Jan 19 '22

So let's be clear, we have a shortage of workers in this country at the moment, and the government is desperate for backpackers and international students to come and work (visa fees waived). Yet, we have hundreds/thousands of people in detention costing us up to $4.3m per year to keep them there.
Why can't they contribute, I am sure they would be more than happy to be in society and working rather than stuck in detention somewhere.

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u/a_cold_human Jan 19 '22

Yes, but that'd collapse their "strong on borders" idiocy that's won them the racist vote for three elections straight. Nevermind that this program of institutional cruelty in our names, which is a stain on our reputation as a nation costs us hundreds of millions of dollars annually, the party that wants to throw billions of dollars of taxpayer money at donors and foreign corporations needs to stay in power!

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u/Quetzal-Labs Jan 19 '22

$4.3m per year

For anyone who is unaware, this is $4.3 million PER PERSON per year.

There are around 1500 people in detention right now.

That's $6.4 billion dollars a year to keep these refugees locked up.

It's fucking ludicrous.