AusPol July: Less stable than the Something Awful forums

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Those On My Left: Jun 25, 2010

Freudian Slip posted:

Or the clerk doing his (or her) job, letting Palmer know that his amendments weren't constitutional, is actually what saved Clive.

That's what I think. Once Clive got the clerk's advice, he went "oh poo poo" and tried to find the most confrontational way to bring the whole thing down. I suppose he could at least argue that the libs should've known this also.

Like I say, this one's on both the libs and palmer, neither of them can claim they've been screwed by the other.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 07:30

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# ? Jun 10, 2024 05:41

Konomex: Oct 25, 2010; a whiteman who has some authority over others, who not only hasn't raped anyone, or stared at them creepily...

Clive might come off as batshit insane, but he's far from an idiot. He didn't vote for the bill because it was not the bill he agreed to vote for, amendments being unconstitutional. Liberals still attempted to pass the bill anyway despite knowing this. I hardly think any if the blame can fall on PUP. Sounds to me like the more experienced Senators should have known and should stop playing stupid games, which is what it sounds like from what Lambie has said.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 08:11

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

Those On My Left posted:

I don't think that's quite it. I think they were happy to accept the amendments because they knew they could later be challenged as unconstitutional on the basis that the Senate had no constitutional power to make those amendments.

Can you challenge bits of a piece of legislation like that? Wouldn't that make the whole passage of the legislation unconstitutional and thus invalidate the repeal of the carbon tax?

# ? Jul 11, 2014 08:12

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

Those On My Left posted:

That's what I think. Once Clive got the clerk's advice, he went "oh poo poo" and tried to find the most confrontational way to bring the whole thing down. I suppose he could at least argue that the libs should've known this also.

Like I say, this one's on both the libs and palmer, neither of them can claim they've been screwed by the other.

I think Palmer can claim that the Liberals were trying to screw him, but they wouldn't have been able to if he knew how things worked properly.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 08:13

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Those On My Left posted:

That's what I think. Once Clive got the clerk's advice, he went "oh poo poo" and tried to find the most confrontational way to bring the whole thing down. I suppose he could at least argue that the libs should've known this also.

Like I say, this one's on both the libs and palmer, neither of them can claim they've been screwed by the other.

Perhaps so, but now the Libs are going back to the Reps and putting that in apparently. Which is also bizarre, because industry will NOT like that amendment one bit. None of it makes sense unless the govt is so desperate to get anything passed. Abbott is ok with it, Hunt won't be on any industry christmas list though. Oh but then they can inexplicably not enforce anything, silly me.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 08:31

Freudian Slip: Mar 10, 2007; "I'm an archivist. I'm archiving."

I am looking forward to them amending the bill to repeal the Carbon Tax with Palmer's amendments and then being surprised that they now have pissed off other senators that were going to pass the previous bill (such as the LDP dickhead).

It would be awesome if they hosed it up again and had to take it back to lower house.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 08:36

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Freudian Slip posted:

It would be awesome if they hosed it up again and had to take it back to lower house.

I'm fully expecting it. LDP will hate something or Muir dither. PUP will want something else again, etc. And this is just one bill. Abbott and co. are about to learn a humiliating lesson about hubris and negotiation. But none of that helps the ALP regain govt unless it stays this way.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 09:10

Splode: Jun 18, 2013; put some clothes on you little freak

ewe2 posted:

I'm fully expecting it. LDP will hate something or Muir dither. PUP will want something else again, etc. And this is just one bill. Abbott and co. are about to learn a humiliating lesson about hubris and negotiation. But none of that helps the ALP regain govt unless it stays this way.

It will stay this way, because the current government have demonstrated that they are incapable of learning from anything

# ? Jul 11, 2014 09:16

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Here we go

# ? Jul 11, 2014 09:41

Seagull: Oct 9, 2012; give me a chip

In exchange for what.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 09:48

gay picnic defence: Oct 5, 2009; I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A NUMBER OF THINGS

Haha wouldn't it be funny if in the first year of an Abbott government the senate passes gay marriage laws but doesn't repeal the carbon tax.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 09:50

Seagull: Oct 9, 2012; give me a chip

gay picnic defence posted:

Haha wouldn't it be funny if in the first year of an Abbott government the senate passes gay marriage laws but doesn't repeal the carbon tax.

ALP would need to not be poo poo.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 09:55

Murodese: Mar 6, 2007; Think you've got what it takes?
We're looking for fine Men & Women to help Protect the Australian Way of Life.

Become part of the Legend. Defence Jobs.

Note that he's not arguing for the introduction of gay marriage, he's arguing for the deregulation of marriage. Effectively the same thing, but let's not forget that he is creeped out by dudes that kiss dudes and women that kiss women.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 10:06

Murodese: Mar 6, 2007; Think you've got what it takes?
We're looking for fine Men & Women to help Protect the Australian Way of Life.

Become part of the Legend. Defence Jobs.

#Newspoll WA State 2 Party Preferred: LIB 50 (-1) ALP 50 (+1) #wapol #auspol
#Newspoll WA State Primary Votes: L/NP 40 (-4) ALP 27 (-6) GRN 17 (+4) #wapol #auspol
#Newspoll WA Barnett LIB: Approve 34 (0) Disapprove 56 (+2) #wapol #auspol

Barnett Approval 34 (-20 from June 2013)

# ? Jul 11, 2014 10:11

open24hours: Jan 7, 2001

Murodese posted:

Note that he's not arguing for the introduction of gay marriage, he's arguing for the deregulation of marriage. Effectively the same thing, but let's not forget that he is creeped out by dudes that kiss dudes and women that kiss women.

Is there a good argument for the regulation of marriage? The only thing I can think of is maybe it makes family / inheritance issues easier to manage? Surely there's a way around that though?

# ? Jul 11, 2014 10:13

Coq au Nandos: Nov 7, 2006; I think I would say to my daughters if they were to ask me this question... A shitpost is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it to someone lightly, that's what I would say.

It makes a lot of other things easier to manage, too. Child support, etc.

Honestly I'm wary of anything Levin hulk says. It could be a case of right thing for the wrong reasons but if he does actually have an angle you can bet he's been given some nightmarish libertarian wet dream scenario in compensation.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 10:20

Murodese: Mar 6, 2007; Think you've got what it takes?
We're looking for fine Men & Women to help Protect the Australian Way of Life.

Become part of the Legend. Defence Jobs.

open24hours posted:

Is there a good argument for the regulation of marriage? The only thing I can think of is maybe it makes family / inheritance issues easier to manage? Surely there's a way around that though?

Not really. The concept of deregulating marriage is pretty much a good thing because it forces the government to consider families as nondistinct entities rather than a particular format (man+woman).

e; but yeah, definitely a broken clock scenario with Leyonhjelm

Murodese fucked around with this message at 10:31 on Jul 11, 2014

# ? Jul 11, 2014 10:26

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Lion-helm's not married to his partner (of several decades) either.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 10:43

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

He wants marriage deregulated so he can marry his extensive ~~penis compensator~~ gun collection

# ? Jul 11, 2014 11:10

Spacman: Mar 18, 2014

You know what I like?

The Commonwealth cutting benefits for under 30's. Right before releasing numbers saying that over 15% of 15-24 year olds cant find a job.

You gunna be evil? Be really loving evil.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 16:30

hambeet: Sep 13, 2002

Spacman posted:

You know what I like?

The Commonwealth cutting benefits for under 30's. Right before releasing numbers saying that over 15% of 15-24 year olds cant find a job.

You gunna be evil? Be really loving evil.

It's sorta part of the plan.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 23:22

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

Spacman posted:

You know what I like?

The Commonwealth cutting benefits for under 30's. Right before releasing numbers saying that over 15% of 15-24 year olds cant find a job.

You gunna be evil? Be really loving evil.

See also, hugely increased costs of tertiary education, with cumulative interest on your loans.

Bonus round: Employers get paid more to employ people over 50.

# ? Jul 11, 2014 23:34

adamantium|wang: Sep 14, 2003; Missing you

# ? Jul 11, 2014 23:54

hambeet: Sep 13, 2002

I love the effort he goes to with details. Gillards face on the negotiation book, Abbott's face on Shortens opposition book. The taped on 'ears' on the punching ball.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 00:09

hambeet: Sep 13, 2002

Is he in print anywhere?

# ? Jul 12, 2014 00:11

SadisTech: Jun 26, 2013; Clem.

IronicBeetCriminal posted:

I love the effort he goes to with details. Gillards face on the negotiation book, Abbott's face on Shortens opposition book. The taped on 'ears' on the punching ball.

... and the car thrown away on the ground... Pope is too good to be wasted on Australians.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 00:26

hambeet: Sep 13, 2002

And shortens name being taken quite literally. Its never snything earth shattering but compared to what else is out there..

# ? Jul 12, 2014 00:32

Coq au Nandos: Nov 7, 2006; I think I would say to my daughters if they were to ask me this question... A shitpost is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it to someone lightly, that's what I would say.

IronicBeetCriminal posted:

Is he in print anywhere?

Yeah that's Dave Pope, he's in the Canberra Times. It's why he's so obsessed with the Skywhale.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 01:00

adamantium|wang: Sep 14, 2003; Missing you

quote:

A treasure map, assassination plot and kidnapping among dark secrets of Sri Lankan asylum seekers
July 11, 2014
Jason Koutsoukis
South Asia correspondent at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald

Fear for their lives ... from left, Janaka Gayan Athukorala, 40, Hemantha Kuruppu, 41, and Sujeewa Saparamadu, 42. Part of group of 41 asylum seekers returned to Sri Lanka. Photo: Jason Koutsoukis

Colombo, Sri Lanka: The 12-metre fishing vessel called the Sithumina left Batticaloa on Sri Lanka's east coast at 2.30am on June 12.

The 41 passengers on board had met the ship several hundred metres from the beach after being ferried there in two small boats powered by outboard motors.

Turning back the boats ... Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse (left) shakes hands with Australia's Immigration Minister Scott Morrison in Colombo after commissioning two Australian-gifted naval patrol boats for people smuggling operations. Photo: AFP

Most of the passengers were men who have since freely admitted that they were simply looking for new jobs and a better life in safe and far away New Zealand. After only 14 days at sea they were picked up by the Royal Australian Navy.

On Monday, all 41 passengers were returned by the Australian government to Sri Lanka. A destination where Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said this week, in the capital Colombo, he had no concerns about their safety or wellbeing.

But not everyone on board the Sithumina was just looking for work. Some of the families on board were carrying some dark secrets and now believe their lives are in danger.

Repatriated to Sri Lanka by the Australian navy ... One of 41 asylum seekers is delivered to court in Galle, Columbo by Sri Lankan navy personnel. Photo: Jason Koutsoukis

In an attempt to bring their circumstances to the attention of the Australian government, or any other government or organisation that can offer them protection, these families have agreed to tell Fairfax Media the chilling stories that really drove them to flee their native country.

Each family has a different story to tell, each one as strange as the other.

Sujeewa Saparamadu, is a 42-year-old mother of three teenagers. She and her husband Ranjith, 44, were successful business people and have lived a life that puts them in the upper tier of Sri Lanka's middle class, able to afford private education for their children.

Uncertain future ... the repatriated Sri Lankan asylum seekers - Hemantha Kuruppu (third from left), Janaka Gayan Athukorala (forth from left), and Sujeewa Saparamadu (second from right) - and their families. Photo: Jason Koutsoukis

According to Saparamadu, her troubles began in November 2012 when eight of her relatives including her mother, three brothers, and some nephews and nieces, landed in Australia.

Outspoken supporters of the controversial Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, or People's Liberation Front, a Marxist-Leninist movement that has participated in two armed uprisings against Sri Lankan governments in 1971 and the late 1980s, Saparamadu says they fled for political reasons.

Four of that group of eight, including Saparamadu's mother, have been allowed to stay in Australia and are currently living in Brisbane.

But Saparamadu's three brothers were returned to Sri Lanka. She says two of her bothers, Ajith Krishantha Wanigasinhe, 32, and Susiripala Wanigasinhe, 39, have not been seen since they returned.

"I don't know if they are alive or dead," Saparamadu said on Thursday. "My third brother, Sunil Wanigasinhe, was arrested six months later ... I think he is in the prison in Negombo but I have no confirmation."

After her four family members were returned to Sri Lanka, Saparamadu gave an interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in which she says she was highly critical of the Sri Lankan government, led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa since 2005.

"I started getting threats straight away. People calling me, threatening me. Stopping me in the street asking me how could I say such horrible things about my country," says Saparamadu.

As the harassment continued, her husband Ranjith, who is the owner of car export company in Japan where he is entitled to live and work, decided to proceed with an application for permanent residency which was, according to a number of documents shown to Fairfax Media, initiated during 2012.

But as the months passed, and Ranjith continued to work in Japan, the harassment became more threatening. On February 18, 2013, Saparamadu's son Preyon was kidnapped on his way home from school.

"The kidnappers rang me quickly, not more than one hour after he was taken, and demanded money. They wanted 500,000 rupees ($4200) but I told them I only had 400,000 rupees ($3300)."

She met the kidnappers at a nearby location and her son was handed back after she threw them a bag with the money in it.

"They told me if I went to the police, worse would happen to me."

Other things did happen. Windows at her house were smashed. She was being followed by people in white vans. On May 15, 2013, two masked men - one of whom was armed - tried to force their way into her house but could not get past the gate.

Saparamadu showed Fairfax a receipt for the police complaint she lodged that day, but says that no one followed up the incident.

Saparamadu took her children out of school and went into hiding, moving to different locations around the country

"I was very afraid. Two of my brothers are missing. One of my brothers is in a jail, but I cannot visit him."

With her husband home from Japan and, according to Saparamadu, restrictions placed on their ability to leave the country legally, she and her husband decided to take themselves and their children to Australia by boat in June 2013.

They were still on the beach, trying to board the boat, when the Sri Lankan army pounced, arresting all the passengers. Saparamadu showed Fairfax Media a newspaper clipping from June last year reporting their arrest.

Saparamadu alleges that after they were arrested, her husband was taken to a police station and she was taken into the jungle by seven soldiers, along with two other women.

Saparamadu gave a horrific account of what followed, but asked that the details not be published.

"My husband is the only person I have told," she said. "They threatened me, said they would kill me if I told anyone. Said they would kill my children."

Bailed to appear in court for trying to leave the country illegally, Saparamadu said she felt even more desperate.

"My husband could not go back to Japan to work. We didn't know what to do."

Sometime earlier this year, Ranjith and several friends who also felt endangered decided to try to flee the island, pooling their savings to buy the Sithumina fishing vessel. The purchase price was nearly $14,000 and it came with working GPS navigation equipment and not much else.

The boat was registered in Ranjith's name and when he faced a Sri Lankan court on Tuesday this week, he was remanded in custody, accused of being the ringleader of the enterprise.

Two other men who decided to join the voyage and helped pay for the boat were Hemantha Kuruppu, 41, a father of three and a former media co-ordinator for the Ministry of Defence, and his business partner Janaka Gayan Athukorala, 40, a father of two.

The two men run a building material supply company on the coast south of Colombo, but their account of what made them flee is as strange as it is frightening.

"During the civil war, when I was working for the MOD (Ministry of Defence)," says Kuruppu, "I became very friendly with a Buddhist monk in a temple in the north."

Kuruppu says that because his job involved taking video footage of the war, he was often in Sri Lanka's north, near the conflict zones.

"One day he asked me to do him a favour, and gave me a very ancient book, a very precious book," Kuruppu told Fairfax Media.

Kuruppu and Athukorala described the book as an ancient treasure map, that supposedly gave the location of the burial sites of gold and precious stones.

Both men described the book as weighing 13 kilograms, and say that there are several smaller versions in Sri Lanka's national museum. Whether or not the book is an accurate guide to hidden treasure is impossible to verify.

But it is no exaggeration to say that both men sincerely believe the book to be genuine. So did the monk who gave the book to Kuruppu, and so do many other people.

Kuruppu says the monk who gave him the book asked him to take it to another Buddhist temple in the south for safekeeping, because he said people had learned of its whereabouts.

Kuruppu says he did take it to the other temple, where it remained under the guard of a number of monks.

"In January 2013, the monks called me, and they asked me to please take the book away. They said criminal gangs had learned that the book was in their possession. And they felt threatened."

When Kuruppu was asked why he then didn't simply take the book to the police, or the government, he said he feared that they would arrest him for not having bought it to them back in 2008 when he was working for the Ministry of Defence.

"So I took the book, and I stored it, but gradually, because there were people who knew that I was very friendly with the monks in this temple, different gang members started to ask me to give them the book and started threatening me."

Why not give the book up? "At first I didn't want to. Then it was [several] different gangs who were asking and I feared that the ones who I didn't give it to would come after me."

Kuruppu says the gang kept harassing him and in June last year he was beaten, his four four front teeth smashed with the butt of a handgun: "All the time they are coming to my house, calling me, threatening me."

Athukorala says he was not beaten but received similar threats.

On October 20, 2013, both men decided to leave their homes and families and go into hiding together. First they fled to Sri Lanka's west coast.

"All the time, they were ringing our families, the families of our wives," says Athukorala.

On May 20 this year, Kuruppu went to his family home south of Colombo.

"They were waiting for me. They said if I didn't give up the book, they would kill my children. That was the night that I decided to leave the country. I rang Janaka (Athukorala), and he said he would come with me. We thought there was no other way."

When asked why he didn't leave legally by plane, both men said they feared they would be arrested, suspecting that Sri Lankan police were also looking for them to obtain the treasure map.

"I told the people who kidnapped me 'yes, I will give it to you, give me a month to get it and it's yours'," Kuruppu said.

Kuruppu and Athukorala and both their families spent the next weeks frantically organising their passage on board the Sithumina with Ranith and Sujeewa Saparamadu.

"Another gang caught me on June 8, I told them the same story, give me some time, I will give you the book."

On June 12 the two men and their families boarded Sithumina, hoping that once they made it to New Zealand they would be able to organise the sale of their property in Sri Lanka and set up a new life for themselves.

They tried to shield their faces when they appeared in court on Tuesday, but their names and pictures were published in the Sri Lankan media the next day.

"My wife's mother has already been threatened," Kuruppu said. As the interview was being conducted, his wife said she had just received another call, this time from one of her sisters, saying the gangs were also after her now. As Kuruppu�s wife broke down in tears, Kuruppu wrung his hands.

Athukorala attested that members of his extended family had already been threatened since Tuesday. Both men believe they are stranded. They fear the Sri Lankan police as much as they fear the gang members.

"What can we do? We have called the United Nations, we have called everyone, no one says they can help us. We are fearing for our lives," Athukorala said.

Fairfax Media can also reveal that the Sri Lankan Special Task Force commando who has been remanded in custody and charged with being a ringleader of the enterprise, Mahinda Indika, 32, had decided to flee for a very different reason.

Although he was a member of the country's elite Special Task Force, Fairfax Media understands that Indika has, for the last eight years, been the driver for Sri Lanka's Inspector-General of Police, N. K. Illangakoon.

It is understood that earlier this year, Indika was approached by an underworld gang who wanted his help to assassinate Illangakoon.

"The gang wanted him to tell them the IG's whereabouts," said one source who briefed Fairfax Media on the matter. "He loved his boss, he didn't want to do that. But unless he cooperated with the gang they told him they would kill him."

Indika, whose wife had just given birth through Caesarean section four weeks earlier, took the only choice he believed was open to him.

"He learned about this boat that was leaving for New Zealand, and he decided that was his only choice to save himself," the source said.

All of people who were interviewed by Fairfax Media said that they each told their stories to Australian Immigration officials via satellite phone.

"The interviews were 20 to 30 minutes long, but it was very difficult to describe our situation," Saparamadu said. "The line kept dropping out, it was very noisy on the deck of the ship, they couldn't hear properly, I was crying a lot."

Hemantha Kuruppu and Janaka Athukorala spoke of the same experience, adding that they were further hampered because they had to conduct their interviews in front of the other Sri Lankan passengers.

"There were three phones, so when my interview took place, there were two standing next to me and I didn't want them to really know everything about my situation," Kuruppu said.

Several days later, Kuruppu and Saparamadu say the next thing they knew was they were being given a card by Australian Customs and Border Protection officials telling them they were being returned to Sri Lanka.

"I broke down on the floor of the ship, crying, begging them not to take me back to Sri Lanka," says Kuruppu.

Now they don't know their fate. They are hiding out in a half-built house with little bedding and no cooking facilities in the middle of the Sri Lankan jungle, waiting for the unexpected.

"We are not poor, I know we are not refugees like other people, but we have reasons to fear. Somebody please help us," said Saparamadu.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 01:16

Pidgin Englishman: Apr 30, 2007; If you shoot
you better hit your mark

Well clearly, that's left-wing crocodile tears:

Andrew 'I Report, You Decide' Bolt posted:

Fearmongers� hateful fraud
ANDREW BOLT
HERALD SUN
JULY 10, 2014 12:00AM

BOLT EDITORIAL4:53

THE outrage over the forced return of 41 Sri Lankan boat people has been exposed as a fraud by the �asylum seekers� themselves.

Here�s conclusive proof that our �refugee lobby� is motivated by deceit, self-preening and insane hatred of the Abbott Government.

These 41 were on one of two boats of Sri Lankans intercepted by our Navy over the past fortnight, and were sent back this week.

Greens leader Christine Milne was apoplectic, describing the passengers as victims of a Sri Lankan tyranny and the evil Tony Abbott: �Sri Lankan asylum seekers have been returned to Sri Lanka: the persecuted to the persecutor.�

Refugee lawyer George Newhouse and former prime minister Malcolm Fraser even likened returning boat people to Sri Lanka to returning Jews to Nazi Germany.

And journalists of the Left competed to be the most horrified. ABC host Fran Kelly, won, gasping: �Since when does our Government disappear people?�

Bad luck for Kelly. The 41 have now appeared again, back in Sri Lanka where they spoke to reporters.

So were they �refugees�? Were they truly the �persecuted�, fleeing a Third Reich in the Indian Ocean?

Let me quote every single one who talked to reporters. You judge.

Punchi Banda Podinilame, speaking for 10 relatives on board, told Fairfax �they had all gone to Australia to find employment�.

Manushika Sandamali, wife of another passenger, admitted: �My husband went to Australia to get a job.�

M.G. Sumanadasa said he was a stone mason who �got on board to earn more money and to have a family house in New Zealand�.

Anthony Fernando said: �I have gone to Australia by boat to find employment.�

The only human rights abuse Fernando reported was our Navy feeding him old muesli bars: �Australian authorities have ill-treated us; they have given expired food, which had a date of May 22.�

Passenger Bhamith Caldera refused to say if he really �had a case for asylum�.

Kasun Hemantha Jayasekara said he was actually �very happy to be back in Sri Lanka�, given �the alternative was an island prison� like Manus.

Sujeewa Saparamadu came closest to claiming some passengers feared persecution. She said a Special Task Force commando accused of helping to organise the boat �has a political problem�, which she did not identify.

BLOG WITH ANDREW BOLT

She also claimed she�d been harassed by Sri Lankan authorities after giving an interview to the ABC two years ago, leading her family to decide �to go to another country like New Zealand that offered better economic circumstances�.

In fact, that ABC interview had merely recorded her husband admitting his four brothers had themselves just been returned by the Gillard government after trying to find work in Australia.

(And, yes, Labor returned more than 1000 Sri Lankans against their will, yet the Left waits until Tony Abbott does it before protesting.)

The only human rights abuse Saparamadu complained of this week was Australian officials confiscating her iPhone 5, her daughter�s digital camera and her husband�s gold credit cards.

So how could the Greens claim it a crime to have sent back economic migrants? How can so many journalists � and the Human Rights Commission � scream we�ve breached our human rights obligations?

But don�t expect a sorry. No, the Left is now screaming about the second intercepted boat, this carrying 153 passengers now believed to be in Australian custody at sea.

Newhouse and barrister Ron Merkel, QC, have persuaded the High Court to issue a temporary injunction against returning these 153 to Sri Lanka, and the same superheated rhetoric is heard about torture, the �disappeared� and Nazis.

But are these boat people any more likely to be true refugees?

Answer: no, even though these, unlike the first 41, are mainly of Sri Lanka�s Tamil minority.

In fact, Merkel has already conceded most � if not all � sailed from India, where they presumably lived in the safety of the established refugee camps.

So why did they try to come here?

As yet, they are still held incommunicado, but Ragajini, the 32-year-old wife of one passenger, told The Sydney Morning Herald from India�s Aliyar refugee camp that �her husband had crippling debts and had needed to escape to a country where he could earn money�.

So not needing our asylum. Just our jobs.

Sure, the 153 might not want to be returned to Sri Lanka but I�m guessing the plan is to send them back to India, where they were always safe.

So if a crime against morality has been committed it is surely this: that so many atrocity-mongers and moral poseurs have inflicted upon us a gigantic fraud.

I'm sorry for doing this to you all, but it's worth keeping in mind the fight is far from over.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:04

Jonah Galtberg: Feb 11, 2009

You're not sorry and I despise you

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:14

SadisTech: Jun 26, 2013; Clem.

It's almost as if his brain is being eaten from the inside by a fat poo poo.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:25

Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

You're going to LUV me then:

Rank Article posted:

12 Jul 2014 The Weekend Australian DENNIS SHANAHAN PAUL MALEY

Terrorist went to jihad on welfare

$766 A FORTNIGHT TO FIGHT

ONE of Australia�s most-wanted terrorists and a suspected war criminal, Khaled Sharrouf continued to receive a taxpayerfunded disability pension months after arriving on the battlefields of Syria. The Weekend Australian understands Sharrouf, who fled Australia for Syria using his brother�s passport, continued to receive his disability support pension at least until February, about two months after he left Australia bound for Syria. Sharrouf, who was convicted as part of the 2005 Pendennis terror trial, arrived in Syria in December and has distinguished himself as one of the most brutal Australian fighters to emerge on the Syrian battlefield.

Revelations that the former Sydney man was paid his regular fortnightly disability cheque � $766 a fortnight � long after authorities knew he was gone, raise the possibility that the taxpayer may have been inadvertently funding his activities. It is not clear if Sharrouf accessed the money, but his journey to Syria took him through Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey � countries where he would have had ready access to any money paid into his bank account. There is also the possibility the cash could have been accessed on his behalf and sent to him via informal channels, such as the hawala networks.

Sharrouf served three years and nine months for his role in the Pendennis plot, a terrorist conspiracy in which 18 men were convicted over plans to attack targets in NSW and Victoria. The 33-year-old�s trial was complicated by his schizophrenia, which was described by a psychiatrist at his trial as �fairly disabling�� and resulted in psychotic episodes when not controlled by anti-psychotic drugs. Sharrouf left Australia from Sydney on December 6 and authorities learned of his fraud by December 18 at the latest.
Human Services Minister Marise Payne declined yesterday to discuss the Sharrouf case, citing privacy concerns.

Under normal circumstances a disability support pension can be cancelled if the recipient is overseas for six weeks. Ms Payne said the law as it stood did not allow authorities to cancel the payments of Australians suspected of involvement in criminal or extremist behaviour. �(But) recent events have highlighted the need for further measures to ensure Australians engaged in terrorist activities are not receiving payments," she told The Weekend Australian.

Sharrouf�s case was complicated by the fact that he left on his brother�s passport, suggesting there was a delay before police notified the Department of Human Services, a possibility alluded to by Ms Payne: �In relation to those who leave the country unlawfully, the government relies on advice from the relevant security and law enforcement agencies in relation to residency questions and cannot act until such advice is received." Sharrouf�s departure proved a major embarrassment for border security authorities and triggered two separate reviews. Those reviews, neither of which has been made public, resulted in a new directive requiring border control staff to give greater emphasis to enforcing and checking suspicious travel, even if it meant slowing movement through the airport.

Sharrouf�s brother was subject to an alert, which was triggered after Sharrouf passed through passport control. But, the alert did not require Customs to detain him, merely to flag his departure. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday a consequence of the Sharrouf episode would be to ensure frontline border control officers had greater access to �actionable" intelligence provided by other agencies, such as the Australian Federal Police or ASIO. �Where the sharing of that intelligence might otherwise in the past have been constrained, what we�re doing now is facilitating a higher level connection with our agency," Mr Morrison told The Weekend Australian.
�That will enable a narrative to be passed down the line that doesn�t compromise any of that, but ensures our alerts are giving our officers a much better opportunity to act."

News that Sharrouf continued to receive his pension months after leaving Australia came as he and his brother-in-arms, fellow Australian Mohamed Elomar, launched an online diatribe against the country they have left. Sharrouf, who has documented his participation in gruesome executions of unarmed Iraqis and his life in Syria, described Australian soldiers as �dogs� and said Australia�s population descended from the Ku Klux Klan. Elomar, who met Sharrouf in Malaysia before travelling to Syria with him, did the same, jousting with other Twitter users. Since their Twitter handles became public, both Sharrouf and Elomar have been attacked for fighting in Syria. Yesterday, Elomar hit back, threatening to �slaughter" other users. �We will slaughter you all just like we slaughter birds u dirty infidel dogs," he said in response to the provocations of another user.

The series of inarticulate and offensive online posts were in response to criticism of Sharrouf made by several Australian Twitter users. �Those dogs who u call diggers died fighting for alcohol and prostitutes how noble,� Sharrouf said on Wednesday night. �Thank Allah I left the land of cowards & imbreds puppets with strings being pulled by USA like bitches ... He continued on with his description of Australia as being filled with racists. �If it wasn�t for research you wouldn�t have left an aborigne (sic) in aus (sic) � you are filth scum of the earth convict pig scum! You have no right to talk about us cause you�re all convict you hill billy red neck scum. Cronulla riots is your peak bunch of fags.�

Sharrouf also continued his online attack against a fellow Australian in Syria, Sheik Abu Sulayman, who is a spiritual leader of alQa�ida�s Jabbhat al-Nusra group, a bitter rival of Islamic State, the group Sharrouf and Elomar have sworn allegiance to. Sharrouf accused Sulayman of being an �ASIO informant liar� before he left Sydney to join the jihad. Sulayman didn�t respond directly but thanked another Twitter user for defending him. Sharrouf has been diagnosed with schizophrenia after �sustained use of amphetamines, LSD and ecstasy� as a teenager led to him experiencing �voices, hallucinations and delusions�, a court heard during his terrorism trial.

On a front page dedicated to masturbating about his life's achievements Ruppie still found space for that.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:30

Vladimir Poutine: Aug 13, 2012

Cartoon posted:

You're going to LUV me then:

On a front page dedicated to masturbating about his life's achievements Ruppie still found space for that.

This reads like a Tracy Grimshaw scare story.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:36

Drugs: Jul 16, 2010; I don't like people who take drugs. Customs agents, for example - Albert Einstein

I agree with the bolded part 100%

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:37

Senor Tron: May 26, 2006

He's showing just how much he doesn't get it. There is nothing at all wrong with sending back people who have no asylum claim. The problem is in turning back people without having a proper look at their claims. The fact this one boat may allegedly have turned out to be non-genuine refugees (in itself hard to say that's the case due to the circumstances of their interviews) doesn't change the fact that the majority or boat arrivals are after proper processing found to be genuine refugees.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:38

Pidgin Englishman: Apr 30, 2007; If you shoot
you better hit your mark

Jonah Galtberg posted:

You're not sorry and I despise you

From FB of course. Sad thing is I'd already had an argument with this guy and his brother about botes and they genuinely believe this rubbish. They'd be happy with full screening and don't mind refugees, just are convinced they're here to cheat the global system. Plus he's genuinely a really nice guy. It's heart breaking to see.

E:grrramer

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:39

Vladimir Poutine: Aug 13, 2012

Senor Tron posted:

He's showing just how much he doesn't get it. There is nothing at all wrong with sending back people who have no asylum claim. The problem is in turning back people without having a proper look at their claims. The fact this one boat may allegedly have turned out to be non-genuine refugees (in itself hard to say that's the case due to the circumstances of their interviews) doesn't change the fact that the majority or boat arrivals are after proper processing found to be genuine refugees.

It's also possible he entirely gets it, but that he's being deliberately obtuse.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:40

Seagull: Oct 9, 2012; give me a chip

Haters Objector posted:

I agree with the bolded part 100%

Yeah he makes some good points.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 02:48

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 10, 2024 05:41

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

Sanguine posted:

Well clearly, that's left-wing crocodile tears:

I'm sorry for doing this to you all, but it's worth keeping in mind the fight is far from over.

The wonky boys had a good laugh at this one in their 100th episode :toot:

It's the insane hatred of the Abbott government! It's fraud! It's...it's evil lefties! What a silly boy.

# ? Jul 12, 2014 03:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > AusPol July: Less stable than the Something Awful forums

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