Refugees and climate change
Today (June 20) is World Refugee Day, observed each year as a way of raising awareness on the plight of refugees. Given the increasingly regressive policies being adopted by the federal government when it comes to asylum seekers, this day is needed more than ever.
There is also a significant hidden detail to the displacement occurring around the world that we ignore at our peril. This is the forced movement of people because of climate change. These people are considered — at best — as economic migrants, because there is, as yet, no separate UN category that covers climate refugees.
This means that the scale of this humanitarian crisis is largely ignored by national governments. This does not, however, make the problem go away.
Recent reports in New Scientist magazine suggest that some Pacific Islands are slowly growing in height and hence may be able to stay ahead of sea level rise. This has sent a dangerous message that we can 'relax' on the issue of climate induced displacement, and is a convenient message for our federal government. But the fact remains that the numbers of climate refugees continues to grow each year.
As we grapple with how to deal with 'traditional' asylum seekers in an ethical way, Australia must also prepare itself to accept at least some of the people likely to be displaced by global warming in coming decades, while doing everything in our power to reduce the cause of this displacement — meaning a rapid shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels.
Cam Walker
campaign co-ordinator
Friends of the Earth
Fitzroy
A win for Gillard is a loss for women
Julia Gillard’s victory over Kevin Rudd has made her the first woman prime minister in Australia’s history. It has taken 109 years, but the glass ceiling has finally, apparently, been broken.
While a victory for one woman, Gillard’s victory is a further defeat for women, however. Her victory follows in the footsteps of former British PM Margaret Thatcher and German Chancellor Angela Merkel; women leaders whose politics severely impacted women and other disadvantaged groups. Gillard has done nothing to support the cause of women while in government.
Gillard’s elevation as PM will move the Labor Party even further to the right. While formally a member of Labor’s “left” faction, a Gillard-led Labor Party will only further court the interests of the big end of town. Refugees, the unemployed, pensioners and the low-paid will be the losers. Mining billionaires, private schools and carbon polluters will be the winners.
The biggest losers, however, will be women.
Women make up the majority of the lowest paid workers in Australia. They have seen their wages fall relative to men even further under Labor. And all the while, Gillard has been the architect and executioner.
As industrial relations minister, Gillard presided over the implementation of Work Choices lite. As education minister, she introduced school league tables and paved the way for performance pay for teachers.
Gillard is no friend of working people. To make a difference, we need our own political party. Let Gillard’s legacy be its construction.
Graham Matthews
Liverpool, NSW
Pensioners and poverty
There are thousands of aged and invalid pensioners who are finding it very difficult to survive on a pension of $322 a week, and are being treated for prostate gland disorders. Their doctors prescribe Proscarre that costs $97 and Flamextra that costs $57.50.
It is impossible for pensioners to afford this medication. The federal government that uses the appellation of Labor should subsidise this medication as it has done with other medications, so that it is accessable to all those who need it.
Bernie Rosen
Strathfield