Labor for Refugees sent the letter below to NSW Labor general secretary Sam Dastyari on July 11.
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Sam Dastyari
General Secretary
NSW Labor
sam@nswalp.com
Dear General Secretary,
At our Labor for Refugees meeting last night, members resolved unanimously, that I write to you re the issue of Greens preferences and send a copy of my letter to the Prime Minister and Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.
The content of our letter follows:
Labor for Refugees is disappointed with your attack on the Green’s position on refugees.
You will note that the position of the Green Party on refugee boat arrivals and offshore processing is more consistent with the Australian Labor Party Platform and the NSW Labor Party Platform because it respects Australia’s international treaty obligations under the Refugee Convention.
By contrast, the current actions of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party and the draft legislation before the Parliament, which was moved in the House of Representatives by the government, is inconsistent with the Australian Labor Party Platform and the NSW Labor Party Platform because it creates a regime under which the government can depart from its obligations under the Refugee Convention.
We refer you to the decision of the High Court in invalidating the Malaysia Solution where the High Court said that the agreement between Australia and Malaysia was inconsistent with the Refugee Convention. There has been nothing in the government’s announcements which suggested that the arrangement between Australia and Malaysia and the Memorandum of Understanding would in any way change, even if the Rob Oakeshott Bill were passed through the Senate.
Accordingly, we wish to record our disgust with the attack on the position taken by the Greens, which is consistent with the Labor Party Platform and the position of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party on this issue, which is inconsistent with its obligations under the Platform.
Yours sincerely
Nizza Siano
Secretary
Cc: PM Julia Gillard and Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen.