Labor should also look to increase Australia's settlement of refugees and asylum-seekers. Australia has a substantial resettlement program, but is not particularly generous when compared with other countries in the total of resettled and arriving refugees.
In fact, as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2004 Yearbook shows, Australia takes only 6.4 asylum-seekers and refugees for each 1,000 inhabitants, while for Canada the number is 7.5, for Denmark 12, and for Switzerland 22.6. The overwhelming majority of informed and empirical research shows that countries like ours benefit socially and economically from such people settling here.
Both Labor and the coalition have shown in the past week that each is as hairy-chested as the other when it comes to refugees and asylum-seekers.
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Wouldn't be nice if Burke and his Labor colleagues differentiated themselves from the Government by talking positively about asylum-seekers and refugees, and steering the Australian community away from the false view that our border is under threat from them.
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About the Authors
Greg Barns is National President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
Howard Glenn leads lobby group Rights Australia Inc, was previously founder and national director of Australians for Just Refugee Programs, and brought the widest range of organisations and individuals together to challenge poor treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.
Formerly CEO of the National Australia Day Council, he was responsible for modernising national celebrations and the Australian of the Year Awards, and involving communities across Australia in debates on reconciliation, republic and national identity.
Howard was an adviser to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the Hawke-Keating Governments, and had key involvement with Indigenous education policy, the response to the deaths in custody Royal Commission and the establishment of the reconciliation process. Outside government he has extensive community sector involvement, currently on human rights, HIV-AIDS, drug and alcohol issues. When not at a computer, Howard is a middle distance runner and a surf lifesaver.
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Greg Barns
Howard Glenn
