HUNDREDS of detainees could be released into the community under radical changes to Australia’s mandatory detention policy to be announced today.
Under the changes, only people who pose a risk to the community will be detained, The Age understands. Others will be released into the community while their cases are assessed.
This is a significant departure from the laws introduced by the Keating government, and continued under John Howard, under which all unauthorised arrivals were detained.
It’s fantastic to see Chairman Rudd doing something positive, and this could well be one of the most significant moves he will make in this term of government. Finally, Australia will no longer presume guilt on the part of asylum seekers coming into this country, and we’ll see a government which is not just interested in re-election – playing the politics of fear, but hopefully one that governs in more than the “national interest”, and instead on a platform of just doing the right thing.
But maybe that’s too much to ask.
(Edit: Andrew Bartlett offers a more balanced and sceptical view – he points out some important qualifiers, and has linked through to the actual speech from Chris Evans)