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Australia Labor Party signals immigration policy change
The opposition Labor Party signaled Sunday it will break from the government on immigration policy and called for a national debate on population policy.
The opposition Labor Party signaled Sunday it will break from the government on immigration policy and called for a national debate on population policy.
Labor's immigration spokeswoman, Julia Gillard, said too much attention was
being paid to short-term issues like asylum seekers without debating targets for
long-term population growth.
"We've started with the refugee-processing bit of the agenda, and that's really the most emotive and difficult part and we're doing that without any goal posts in terms of any population policy or immigration," Gillard said.
The Nov. 10 election was dominated by the issue of asylum seekers after Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government in August adopted a tough policy of turning away all unauthorized arrivals.
Last year some 4,100 asylum seekers, mostly from the Middle East and South Asia, came to Australia by boat from Indonesia with the help of people smuggling gangs.
Those who defy navy patrols are picked up and shipped to detention camps built by Australia on the Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru - both major recipients of Australian aid - where their applications for asylum are processed.
The policy, known as the Pacific Solution, was condemned internationally but boosted the government's poll ratings, and is seen by most commentators as a key reason it won a third term in last month's election.
Bureau Report
"We've started with the refugee-processing bit of the agenda, and that's really the most emotive and difficult part and we're doing that without any goal posts in terms of any population policy or immigration," Gillard said.
The Nov. 10 election was dominated by the issue of asylum seekers after Prime Minister John Howard's conservative government in August adopted a tough policy of turning away all unauthorized arrivals.
Last year some 4,100 asylum seekers, mostly from the Middle East and South Asia, came to Australia by boat from Indonesia with the help of people smuggling gangs.
Those who defy navy patrols are picked up and shipped to detention camps built by Australia on the Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru - both major recipients of Australian aid - where their applications for asylum are processed.
The policy, known as the Pacific Solution, was condemned internationally but boosted the government's poll ratings, and is seen by most commentators as a key reason it won a third term in last month's election.
Bureau Report