Explanation sinks like a stone
The Opposition's Immigration spokeswoman, Sharman Stone, attempted to rewrite her own history when making a personal explanation in Parliament today.
Dr Stone is denying her unambiguous support for the Rudd Government's immigration detention reforms, the abolition of Temporary Protection visas and the Pacific Solution. But the public record shows that Dr Stone has been caught trying to play with the truth.
Dr Stone offered her unequivocal support to the Rudd Government's risk-based detention reforms, which maintain mandatory detention for irregular maritime arrivals, when she told Radio 2SM: 'Labor is very much echoing what we did' (1/12/08).
Dr Stone was a member of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Migration which in December 2008 unanimously recommended that:
'As a priority, the Australian Government introduce amendments to the Migration Act 1958 to enshrine in legislation the reforms to immigration detention policy announced by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.'
When asked on Sky News if she welcomed the committee's recommendations Dr Stone said: 'I do…..but let me say Coalition policy was the same: to minimise time in detention, to have it risk-based.' (2/12/09)
Was Dr Stone misleading the public when she put her name to the Joint Standing Committee report? Or is she so eager to play politics with the issue that these embarrassing contradictions are now everyday occurrences?
Dr Stone also misled the ABC Australia Network when she said: 'Enough is enough you've got to reinstate the strong measures that the coalition had in place in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and put the smugglers out of business. We have opposed every one of those measures starting with the Temporary Protection Visa.' (5/10/09)
That simply is not true. The Liberal Party and Dr Stone made no attempt to disallow the regulations which scrapped Temporary Protection Visas in August 2008.
The Liberal Party was also silent when the Government announced the ending of the Pacific Solution with the closure of detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island, however Dr Stone has since made the Opposition's position clear several times.
'I don't think we need to again have Nauru and Manus Island operating, because we've got of course Christmas Island.' (Radio 2SM – 1/12/08)
'We no longer have that requirement because we've got an alternative place which is in our excised migration zone, Christmas Island.' (The Australian – 16/04/09)
When it comes to a policy on immigration and asylum seekers, Dr Stone and the Liberal Party are empty vessels. Their only solution is to call for an inquiry.
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/media/media-releases/2009/ce09099.htm
Last update: 27 October 2009 at 13:03 AEST