quote:

Protection visa cap ruled invalid by High Court, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison ordered to reconsider asylum seekers' application
By Elizabeth Byrne

Updated 3 minutes ago
Map: Australia

The High Court has struck down a law which allowed the Government to cap the number of protection visas it issues for refugees in Australia.

The ruling comes after two separate applications to the court from asylum seekers who were found to be refugees but were denied protection visas because of the cap.

One of the men came from Ethiopia to Australia last year as a stowaway on a ship, and the second, a Pakistani man, arrived at Christmas Island in 2012.

Under the law, once refugee status has been determined, the Immigration Minister has 90 days to issue a protection visa.

The High Court found the Minister did not have the power to limit the number of visas because of this time limit.

The court has ordered Immigration Minister Scott Morrison reconsider the asylum seekers' application for protection.

drunkill posted:

From reddit. (yes it is fake, but still being handed out it seems)

Vladimir Poutine posted:

Apparently the high court invalidated the cap on protection visas
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2014/25.html

e: beaten

Ian Winthorpe III posted:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world....html?tid=sm_fb


When are we going to do something about this? I knew it was high but I had no idea it was 18%! In what way is this in the national interest.

V for Vegas posted:

This is such a load of poo poo and I suspect IWC is well aware of that.

Given the total value of the Australian housing market is approaching 5 trillion dollars, 3 billion dollars a year invested by the Chinese (and other newly arrived immigrants) in the market is negligible.

Hypation posted:

If you look at the total pool of cheques as a static object...

quote:

Pregnant asylum seekers on Nauru transferred to Australia for abortions
Three women requested abortions due to harsh conditions in detention and the longevity of stay on the Pacific island

Oliver Laughland
theguardian.com, Friday 20 June 2014 17.21 AEST


Three pregnant asylum seekers have been transferred to Australia from offshore detention on Nauru after requesting abortions due to the harsh conditions inside the detention centre and because they did not want to bring a child up on Nauru, Guardian Australia understands.

Of the three women – the first of whom was transferred in February – one had her pregnancy terminated while the other two have yet to make a final decision on the termination.

The February case – of a Rohingyan woman named Salima – was reported by the ABC. Salima’s partner Mamun told the ABC from Brisbane: “If we born with a child in Nauru the child must die because the facilities [are] not good in there.

"There is a very small room. Families are given a fan. But in a single camp there is no fan. When you take meals – lunch and dinner – you must be standing two hours in the line."

The two most recent cases involve pregnant women transferred to Darwin. One family were sent around three weeks ago and another around eight weeks ago.

Child asylum seeker advocate group Chilout and a senior source with knowledge of the cases confirmed the transfers had occurred.

Chilout spokeswoman Sophie Peer said all three women had cited conditions in detention and the longevity of stay on the tiny Pacific island state as reasons for their decisions.

A leaked report, written by five independent medical experts, documented the dire state of mental health among pregnant women on Nauru. The report said that most pregnant women on the island were suffering depression, with many scoring 24 on the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, where depression is diagnosed with a score of 10.

Guardian Australia has also been told by a senior source that a 32-year-old woman was evacuated under emergency after a suicide attempt on Nauru last weekend.

“The actions taken by these families indicate just how dire the situation is on Nauru,” said Peer.

“From maternal health through to paediatric care and basic living conditions, the entire facility on Nauru is inappropriate for women and children.

“Our government has stripped these families of all hope and has made family planning decisions almost impossible.”

Immigration minister Scott Morrison did not respond to a request for comment.

adamantium|wang posted:

gently caress it, I'm out. See you guys in France.

quote:

Not actually NIMBYs' backyard. Bendigo locals tell Tips that many of the protesters who filled a local council meeting on Wednesday night aren't actually from the regional city, but are from out-of-town anti-Islam groups. More than 350 people attended the meeting, with many vocally protesting against the planning approval of a mosque on the edge of town. The group has even enlisted international help -- according to the "Stop the Mosque in Bendigo" Facebook page, the group is being advised by Gavin Boby, a self-styled "mosque-buster" from the UK who claims to have stopped 16 mosques being built. Know more about the out-of-towners? Drop us a line.

A tipster also brought our attention to one of the anti-mosque speakers at the council meeting, Anita Donlon -- the Palmer United Party candidate for the seat of Bendigo at last year's federal election who may still be involved with the party as Victorian state co-ordinator. Donlon wouldn't confirm if she was still involved with PUP saying:

"My view is my own and does not and has not been endorsed or carry any view of any political party. It is my right to belong to which ever political party I see fit and support that party. It is my right and my will to express my views to issues pertaining to the community and the country I live in."

PUP didn't get back to us before deadline to confirm whether Donlon was still involved in the party. Donlon told Crikey that she was not one of the organisers of the protest and that a report in the Bendigo Weekly calling her such was "being addressed by [her] lawyer". Donlon also ran as a state Liberal candidate in 2010 and was one of the organisers of the Convoy of No Confidence rally in 2011.

Hypation posted:

I'm not talking about the misguided few. I am talking about systemic state sponsored bigotry and bastardry. I am saying that in general Arabs hate substantial amounts of Western rights and freedoms to such an extent that they have made it a capital offense to adopt some of our values, a corporal offence for adopting others and provide with extensive prison sentences for adopting even more.

adamantium|wang posted:

gently caress it, I'm out. See you guys in France.

ewe2 posted:

Crikey updates the Bendigo anti-mosque hilarity:


This is what Lambie would be doing if she hadn't made Senator, just remember.

Aaronicon posted:

No, not under-25. I don't get the travel concessions if that's what you mean, because I'm not full-time / on-campus. So low-income (urgh) it is instead I guess!

e: yeah I don't really feel comfortable joining with as low as the 'student' tier anyway, especially considering that I'd technically be a non-student for half of the year. There's just no clarification anywhere so I thought I'd double-check regardless.

e2:



oh god what have i done

Aaronicon posted:

All I've gotten is that email. Nothing else. Is there supposed to be anything else? All I've gotten back from them from my previous attempts to communicate is emails stating that they're moving offices and they'll be back up and running by 4 days ago.

Jonah Galtberg posted:

That sentence isn't real.

quote:

Abbott offers refugees $10k to go home
June 21, 2014
Sarah Whyte
Immigration correspondent

EXCLUSIVE


The Abbott government is offering asylum seekers up to $10,000 - a five-fold increase - to leave detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru and return to their countries of origin.

Asylum seekers who take the ''return packages'' and voluntarily leave Australia's offshore processing centres are taken to the Hideaway Hotel, Port Moresby, where their stay is paid for by the International Organisation of Migration, before flying to their home countries.

Lebanese asylum seekers are offered $10,000 to voluntarily return to Lebanon. Iranians are offered $7000, Afghans $4000 and Nepalese, Burmese and Sudanese asylum seekers are all offered $3300. It is understood the payments, which are administered by the International Organisation for Migration but funded by the Australian Immigration Department, are made once the asylum seekers have returned.

The price increase is a departure from the Labor government's return policy, which offered asylum seekers an average $1500 to $2000 in May last year.

Refugee advocates say the Abbott government is shirking its responsibility to those who seek asylum in Australia.

But former Liberal MP Philip Ruddock, who also offered return packages as immigration minister, supported the government's decision.

''I don't think it's unreasonable,'' he said. ''If [the money] wasn't offered, it may not happen.''

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the packages were being offered. ''Return packages are tailored specifically to each individual case,'' a spokesman for Mr Morrison said.

''Voluntary return is conducted in direct partnership with the International Organisation for Migration. ''All such returns are voluntary. The IOM does not facilitate involuntary returns. Refugee advocates estimate about 150 people on Manus have taken up the offer.

The number of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people worldwide has exceeded 50 million for the first time since after World War II.

Human rights groups say that, in light of the figures, Australia should be doing more, not paying people to leave.

Daniel Webb, director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, said: ''At a time of great global need, Australia is doing everything it can to shift responsibility rather than share it.''

Australia director of Human Rights Watch Elaine Pearson agreed, saying Australia was not alone in facing the problem of increasing global migration. ''By making the conditions in Manus and Nauru so awful that people are encouraged to go back to active conflict zones, you are putting them in danger and quite likely they'll simply have to leave and go somewhere else that doesn't have such a closed-door policy as Australia.''

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the increase of payments was ''extremely concerning''.

''There is nothing voluntary about being forced to choose between the hell-hole of Manus Island or the terrors they have fled,'' she said.

''Refugees are being told they have no rights, no prospects and no hope, and now they are being bribed to leave, it's not voluntary - it's coercion.''

adamantium|wang posted:

quote:

A spokesman for Education Minister Christopher Pyne said the Minister supported the teaching of ‘historically significant” languages.

‘The Government is working towards 40 per cent of Year 12 students studying a second language in a decade, the more language options available for schools, the more likely students will be attracted to language study,” the spokesman said.

He said it was up to schools and state governments to determine which languages were taught. Classical Latin was spoken by the ancient Romans and extracts of the Latin language are used in legal circles and the Roman Catholic Church.

Zenithe posted:

Purely a grab to try and paint them as not real refugees. Weird how there are different costs for each country though.

Also, remember how Pyne was talking about curriculum changes? Here is a sneak preview:


Full story in Australian.

Agenda? what agenda?

Zenithe posted:

Purely a grab to try and paint them as not real refugees. Weird how there are different costs for each country though.

Also, remember how Pyne was talking about curriculum changes? Here is a sneak preview:


Full story in Australian.

Agenda? what agenda?

quote:

Woman arrested for cycling with toddler under arm

Posted 35 minutes ago

A Victorian woman may face serious criminal charges after police spotted her riding a bike with a toddler tucked under her arm.

Police were patrolling in Wangaratta, in north-eastern Victoria, when they came across the 19-year-old riding an electric-powered bicycle along College Street late Friday afternoon.

The woman was steering with one hand while carrying the 16-month-old boy under her other arm.

Neither was wearing a helmet.

Police said they were dumbfounded by the reckless riding and said the woman refused to acknowledge her actions posed any danger to her nephew.

She was arrested and may be charged with conduct endangering life.

Cartoon posted:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-21/woman-arrested-after-riding-bike-with-toddler-under-her-arm/5540780

Cartoon posted:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-21/woman-arrested-after-riding-bike-with-toddler-under-her-arm/5540780

Cartoon posted:

The woman was steering with one hand while carrying the 16-month-old boy under her other arm.

Neither was wearing a helmet.

Zenithe posted:

Purely a grab to try and paint them as not real refugees. Weird how there are different costs for each country though.

Also, remember how Pyne was talking about curriculum changes? Here is a sneak preview:


Full story in Australian.

Agenda? what agenda?

open24hours posted:

I don't really see anything wrong with learning Latin or Ancient Greek or whatever. People who learn Chinese for one period a week are hardly likely to become fluent or more employable anyway.

DAAS Kapitalist posted:

It's hard enough to motivate school children to begin with without teaching them things that are completely irrelevant, especially when there are equivalent relevant subjects they could be taught.

open24hours posted:

Time to scrap PE.

open24hours posted:

Time to scrap PE.