Diary of our stinking Govt.

[boris1gary]

As it's more than 100 days now, it has been suggested that a new thread was needed.  The current govt has been breaking promises and telling lies at a rate so fast it's hard to keep up.

This below is worrying, "independent" pffft, as if your own doctor is somehow what? biased, it's ridiculous. So far there is talk of only including people under a certain age 30-35, for now. Remember that if your injured in a car, injured at work or get ill, you too might need to go on the DSP. They have done a similar think in the UK with devastating consequences.

and this is the 2nd time recently where the Govt has referred to work as welfare???? So when you go to work tomorrow (or tuesday), just remember that's welfare.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-20/disability-pensioners-may-be-reassessed-kevin-andrews/5400598

Independent doctors could be called in to reassess disability pensioners, Federal Government says

The Federal Government is considering using independent doctors to examine disability pensioners and assess whether they should continue to receive payments.

Currently family doctors provide reports supporting claims for the Disability Support Pension (DSP).

But Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews is considering a measure that would see independent doctors reassess eligibility.

"We are concerned that where people can work, the best form of welfare is work," Mr Andrews said at a press conference.

[debra9275]

trhe report is not biased Glee as it covers both labor and Liberal over 2013-2014 and I thnik her main concern was the length of time children are being kept in detention

[gleee58]

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@debra9275 wrote:

Feb 28 SMH :  Triggs says she decided to wait until after the 2013 election for fear of running into the caretaker period of government"

AUSTRALIAN Human Rights Commission president Professor Gillian Triggs is alleged to have said it would have been ‘‘very dangerous politically’’ to act earlier in launching an inquiry into children in detention.  

yes she did say that and I think she did the right thing as it was election time and woul'dve had an effect on both politicial parties

below is an extract from her her report

This is not a politicised exercise. It is a fair-minded report, "The evidence on which we rely is evidence which covers the period of the former government as well as the nearly 18 months of the current Government. The facts frankly speak for themselves."

So let’s consider the facts, shall we?

 “As the medical evidence has mounted over the last eight months of the Inquiry, it has become increasingly difficult to understand the policy of both Labor and Coalition Governments. Both the Hon Chris Bowen MP, as a former Minister for Immigration, and the Hon Scott Morrison MP, the current Minister for Immigration, agreed on oath before the Inquiry that holding children in detention does not deter either asylum seekers or people smugglers. No satisfactory rationale for the prolonged detention of children seeking asylum in Australia has been offered.”

“By July 2013, under the Labor government, a record number of 1,992 children were in detention. The numbers of children in detention remained relatively constant at approximately 1,100 children from September 2013 to February 2014 under the new Coalition Government led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott.”

“Further announcements tightening asylum seeker policy by Prime Minister Rudd on 19 July 2013 left the vast majority of asylum seekers in detention in limbo. The policy implemented by the Labor Government and continued by the Coalition Government, specifies that anyone who arrives by boat without a visa since this date in July is liable to transfer to Nauru or Manus Island and will never be settled in Australia. The claims of these asylum seekers have not been processed and they face uncertainty as to their future.”

“Both current and former Ministers of Coalition and Labor governments stipulate that the detention of children is (and was) not intended as part of deterrence policy. They confirm that the detention of children would not, in fact, be a deterrent.

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No, she said the first discussion the commission team had about the need to upgrade the review and use the Inquiry powers was at the meeting on Dec 3rd, 2013. 

She sent a letter of evidence to the Senate Committee which confirmed that on Dec 10th, 2014.

There was always going to be a 10 year review.

[debra9275]

[gleee58]

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@debra9275 wrote:

trhe report is not biased Glee as it covers both labor and Liberal over 2013-2014 and I thnik her main concern was the length of time children are being kept in detention

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I know the report isn't biased, Debra.  

The newspaper report has got that wrong the only talk there was before the election was about the review and the Snap Shot Report (2013).

[debra9275]

somewhere there is a response from her to that timing accusation, but I've also seen that article MM is talking about, you could well be right in what you're saying about the review and snap report

[debra9275]

the way LNP have carried on, you would think her report only covered 2014 but it does go much further back

and yes it was always going to be a 10 year review, the last one was done in 2004

[gleee58]

This refers to the December 10th letter which the chair and his bovver buddy refuse to read.

It's in answer to the questions taken on notice at the November hearing, during which the bovver buddies attacked her relentlessly and forced her to guesstimate a timeline of events leading up to the decision the upgrade to Inquiry powers.

https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/stories/senate-estimates-february-2015

The Commission appeared at a Senate Estimates hearing of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on February 24.

President Gillian Triggs tabled a letter she sent to the Senate Committee on 10 December 2014 that set out a timeline of meetings with ministers about children in detention issues. 

The letter states “My records indicate that while I regularly discussed concerns about children in immigration detention with all ministers for immigration, I did not specifically refer to the proposed review / inquiry with any minister in the previous government.”

The letter also clearly sets out how the President’s concerns about children in detention were raised with the previous government in 2012 and 2013.

“The Commission has regularly engaged with the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (subsequently the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) on matters relating to children in immigration detention.

“Since 2012, this has involved meetings and letters at regular intervals expressing concerns about children in detention centres in Curtin, Manus Island and Christmas Island, the situation of unaccompanied minors and a repeated urging of the government to ensure that the detention of children is a matter of last resort, by implementing a presumption against detention of children.

“My records show that issues relating to children in detention were raised in every meeting that I had with the Minister.”

At the recent Estimates hearing, Professor Triggs made an opening statement reinforcing the Commission’s view that the report is about the children, and not about politics.

“The Inquiry took place from January 2013 to October 2014, covering the periods of both the former and current governments. The bipartisan nature of government responsibility is clear on any fair reading of this balanced and objective Report.

“The medical and other data in the Report provide credible and objective evidence that mandatory, prolonged, often isolated and indefinite detention, has a significantly damaging effect on children.

“The Commission has worked tirelessly over the last decade, up to and including 2013, reporting on the failure of both governments of the time to comply with their international obligations. 

“I seek to table a document that summarises the more than 180 separate pieces of work completed by the Commission on immigration detention and asylum seekers over the past five years.

“In July 2012, my predecessor, the Hon Catherine Branson reported the results of her Inquiry into the Age determination process for children held in detention.

“Following that Inquiry, the Commission was fully committed to a program of action:

• Conducting monitoring visits to detention centres in mainland Australia and Christmas island; within 8 weeks of my appointment in July 2012, I was at Villawood Detention Centre and 4 weeks later I was on Christmas Island interviewing children and their families. The Report of these visits was the first of three such reports in my first 15 months as President.
• The Commission issued 36 reports to Parliament in relation to 89 complainants between 2010-2014 in respect of immigration detention and asylum seekers, each of which must be independently assessed.
• Providing a Report in October 2013 to Parliament -the “Snapshot Report”- which considered the continued detention of the children
• Providing submissions to Parliamentary Committees examining proposed changes to the Migration Act and other Acts
• Intervening in High Court matters relating to the detention of asylum seekers, (CPFC and Megaming v The Queen).”

[debra9275]

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/dont-shoot-the-messenger-says-human-rights-commission-president-gillia...

Why, critics have asked, did I as president begin the inquiry in 2014 and not six months earlier in July 2013, when the numbers of children in detention reached a record high. Why, it has been asked, did I not act earlier?

Since the report was provided to the government last October, the commission has been subject to the criticism that it is politically biased. Why, critics have asked, did I as president begin the inquiry in 2014 and not six months earlier in July 2013, when the numbers of children in detention reached a record high. Why, it has been asked, did I not act earlier?

The answer is that the commission has worked tirelessly over many years reporting on the failure by both Labor and Liberal governments to comply with their international law obligations to refugees. In July 2012 the commission reported its findings of an inquiry into the treatment of asylum seeker children who were subject to mandatory detention as people smugglers. A number were held in adult prisons, on the basis of flawed age determination processes. The report revealed major concerns over how a number of government agencies dealt with these children. Over the subsequent months, significant changes to law and policy were made to address the concerns identified by the commission.

The commission had always intended to come back and review what changes had occurred in the 10 years since our landmark 2004 report, A last resort? These worrying developments confirmed that it was appropriate for us to do so come 2014

[debra9275]

AUSTRALIAN Human Rights Commission president Professor Gillian Triggs is ALLEGED  to have said it would have been ‘‘very dangerous politically’’ to act earlier in launching an inquiry into children in detention.  

that one word changes everything doesn't it

[gleee58]

Yes, it is part of a well orchestrated smear campaign.