Australia, the steroid-soaked neighbourhood bully of the Pacific

Australia, the steroid-soaked neighbourhood bully of the Pacific





"The fanatical exclusion of refugees necessarily leads to an imitation of the regimes the persecuted are fleeing.
If the Sri Lankan government scoffs at Tamil claims of oppression, so,
too, does the Australian government – even as it detains Tamils in camps
not so dissimilar from those they have fled.

At the same time,
the anti-refugee obsession mandates closer Australian ties with
authoritarian regimes. For example, to assist the Sri Lankan government
in stopping Tamil boats, Tony Abbott offered military hardware to
its military. He also undermined the international campaign against Sri
Lankan human rights abuses by publicly announcing that, while his
government deplores the use of torture, "we accept that sometimes in difficult circumstances difficult things happen".

Excerpt from the Article