Treatment of asylum seekers
As a starting point, we believe that it is necessary to consider the current Australian government's treatment of asylum seekers. There are legitimate humanitarian concerns about the system of mandatory detention and the way that the issue of asylum seekers in general has been so politicised. The Australian government's treatment of asylum seekers is at best misconceived, and is both mean-spirited and degrading of Australian politics by fostering division. With leadership and action, the solution is relatively simple in that it relates to the physical treatment and processing of asylum seekers, with several clear practical solutions (eg, the abolition of mandatory detention, the establishment of community-based systems for processing asylum seekers, and the speeding up of visa processing).
It is also necessary to separate treatment of asylum seekers from policies on acceptance of asylum seekers and border control issues in general. Current treatment of asylum seekers is inhumane and unnecessary, regardless of what Australia’s immigration policy is.
Global responsibilities & aid
In considering immigration, there is a secondary issue of why people need to flee their homelands. Given that many asylum seekers are escaping political repression and war, there is an onus on Australia to take a proactive role in opposing human rights abuses, in bilateral relations and international forums. Australia also needs to recognise the role of overseas aid in reducing dislocation and enhancing the role of civil society and community organisations in recipient countries.
Australia’s Overseas Direct Aid is at a historical low (0.25% of Australia's GNP) under the current Howard government, and should be increased to meet the United Nations target of 0.7 percent of GNP as a matter of urgency.
There is another question of how aid is applied. In future scenarios based on continued global warming, it will be necessary for Australia to review how it delivers aid, especially to communities who are grappling with the impacts of human-induced climate change.
Resource consumption
Australia has the highest per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rates of any industrialised nation, at about 27.2 tonnes per person per year (1). This is twice the average level of other wealthy countries and 27% higher than emissions per person in the United States (21.4 tonnes). Our energy intensive economy and lifestyle is typical of the developed world, which has been responsible for over 80% of all GHG emissions from human sources on the planet. Australia, with only 20 million people, produces around 1.1% of global emissions (2).With this many people we should be producing around 0.31% of global emissions if we were consuming a fair share.