Not so long ago, young people used to
have a rite of passage known as their 21st where
parents held a big party and at some
time during the evening, before the keg had been drunk
dry and the flower beds decorated in
carrots, the centre of attention was given the key of the
door.
As people gazed at some large boofy
bloke and grainy old pictures of a naked toddler
crawling into the surf or suchlike, the
proud parents spoke of the responsibility that came
with having your own front door key.
Part of that responsibility was that you had to act like
an adult in all things. Quaint, eh?
As L.P. Hartley wrote, “The past is a
foreign country: they do things differently there.”
It's a bit like becoming the government
of a country. The old days of wild-eyed idealism
in opposition are over. The hard grind
of office brings with it perks, but it also brings an
obligation to act responsibly.
The refugee debate has become a race to
the bottom of a cesspit that has no bottom. The
rednecks of talkback radio and their
call-in gibberers will not be satisfied until they see
people being shot in the water. They
are beyond any normal decency and should be treated
as such. Instead, we are seeing them
shaping the debate and all semblance of responsible
government thrown under the bus.
What seems to be forgotten here is that
we are bludgers. We are sponging off the rest of
the world. Offshore processing means we
are willing to abrogate our responsibilities under
refugee conventions and throw our
problems into someone else’s backyard like bags of
smelly garbage.
Let us remind ourselves of the millions
of refugees moving around the world, desperate
for sanctuary as war, famine and terror
breathe down their necks.
In 35 years, 500 boats
bringing a total of 27,000 people have
arrived in this country. Let us remind ourselves of
the 40,000 asylum seekers Greece is
processing at the moment.
