Tony Abbott’s harsh treatment of asylum seekers is the same old story
Occasionally you have to pause to take stock of just how bizarre Australia’s asylum seeker debate has become. In summary, it works like this: the Coalition implements a policy that is mostly Labor’s while pretending it is doing something so uniquely tough that no one else could possibly be so courageous. Labor, meanwhile, objects because that’s what oppositions do, while trying delicately to avoid criticising the very thing it has unleashed. The mainstream public responds, in poll after poll, with a mix of approval and bloodlust. Some call for even harsher measures though it is difficult to imagine what that would mean. Operation Sovereign Slaughter, perhaps?
▻http://www.theage.com.au/comment/tony-abbotts-harsh-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-is-the-same-old-story-2014