The Angry Dieter

I know Australia has a convict past, convicts sent from Great Britain to various parts of the empire, but I find it ironic that now Australia wants to do something that Great Britain did several hundred years ago.

So here is some information about these ships from Wikipedia.

A prison hulk was a hulk used as a floating prison. They were especially popular in Great Britain; the Royal Navy producing a steady supply of ships too worn-out to use in combat, but still afloat. The harbor location of prison hulks was also convenient for the temporary holding of persons being transported to Australia and elsewhere overseas. These were decommisioned in the mid 1800s.

So now, Australia learns from its convict past and floats the idea of similar boats for illegal fisherman and immigrants, as a dumping ground, offshore, which isn’t australian land, therefore no real legal rights. This is part of the discussion

Customs is searching for a vessel that can be converted to hold up 30 detainees and be armed with mounted machine guns.

The ship will cost up to $10 million a year to lease.

The move is part of the Government’s bid to strengthen Australia’s border protection.

Labor’s customs spokesman Joe Ludwig says it is a patchwork approach to protecting Australia’s northern waters and he is worried about the rights of those held on board.

“Whether these detainees do have access to all of the rights that you would expect them to have access to, and 30 days is a long time to be held at sea, and then you’ve got to look at the vessel itself and whether its will be capable of sitting out there for 30 days,” he said.

“The only thing that might actually fit that is a P&O cruise liner.”

Senator Ludwig says the fishing industry believes a fully fledged coast guard is needed to protect Australia’s northern waters.

Greens Senator Kerry Nettle is also worried about the rights of those detained.

“We don’t need to take away people’s legal and human rights,” she said.

And of course the opposition is opposing, and I agree. It was an inhumane form of holding prisoners when it was brought about in the 18th Century, what is the difference nearlt 300 years later? It is still inhumane. This is as bad as David Hicks being stuck in a prison with no rights! It’s no wonder Australian’s overseas would rather be dualcitizens of EU nations to ensure they can get out of trouble when the govt washes it’s hands of it’s citizens.

enough is enough.. pretty soon we are going to be having illegal immigrants/fisherfold in chain gangs scraping out a living in quarries, tickets of leave will be re-introduced, and one day after 14 years of servitude they may be granted a pardon so they can eke out some kind of existence somewhere, or go back to wherever they were from in the first place. Someone needs to remind the Liberal Govt that this is the 21st century, not the 18th.

August 3rd, 2006 | Category: Blogging | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL