Tag: asylum seekers

About Nauru your petitioner humbly prays

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I could count on the toes of my feet the number of petitions I have signed in this life, but I could not refuse the Kids off Nauru campaign. More than 100 human rights groups, churches, charities and organisations, including World Vision, Amnesty International and the Australian Lawyers Alliance are behind Kids off Nauru. The e-petition to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten leaves no room for negotiation. Children in detention on…

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A few myths about refugees

My conscience would be burdened if anyone went to the polls on July 2 believing some of the persistent myths and misunderstandings about asylum seekers and refugees. First, let’s set out a few facts in the interests of perspective: Asylum seekers are people seeking international protection but whose claims for refugee status have not yet been determined; Australia is the only nation with a policy of indefinite mandatory detention for people it has identified as…

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Deeper in debt

You’d think that after 42 years’ experience handling credit cards Australians would have wised up to over-using their high interest card/s and getting into debt. Research by comparison website finder.com.au shows that Aussies are up to their eyebrows in credit card debt. Finder’s analysis of Reserve Bank of Australia data shows that we have $18 billion more credit card debt than we did a decade ago and we have 16.3 million credit card accounts –…

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