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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/16/qa-recap-token-right-wing-madman-slams-long-term-detention-of-asylum-seekers
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| Q&A recap: 'token rightwing madman' slams long-term detention of asylum seekers Q&A recap: 'token rightwing madman' slams long-term detention of asylum seekers | |
| (2 months later) | |
| Australia’s policy of detaining asylum seekers for years in privately run camps in “essentially former Australian colonies” has been branded unacceptable by a prominent US-based conservative commentator. | Australia’s policy of detaining asylum seekers for years in privately run camps in “essentially former Australian colonies” has been branded unacceptable by a prominent US-based conservative commentator. |
| A new Turnbull government minister in turn labelled a Labor counterpart a “complete hypocrite” for suggesting there was a moral difference in the opposition’s offshore detention policy, after an audience member raised the plight of her Manus Island pen friend on ABC talk show Q&A. | A new Turnbull government minister in turn labelled a Labor counterpart a “complete hypocrite” for suggesting there was a moral difference in the opposition’s offshore detention policy, after an audience member raised the plight of her Manus Island pen friend on ABC talk show Q&A. |
| Q&A audience member Joy Donovan said the Kurdish Iranian man, an acquaintance of slain detainee Reza Barati and the witness in his murder trial, was “severely depressed … unable to sleep … not eating … feeling that he might die” after 30 months in detention. | Q&A audience member Joy Donovan said the Kurdish Iranian man, an acquaintance of slain detainee Reza Barati and the witness in his murder trial, was “severely depressed … unable to sleep … not eating … feeling that he might die” after 30 months in detention. |
| She asked the panel what they could tell the government or the Australian public to encourage the government to “change this awful situation”. | She asked the panel what they could tell the government or the Australian public to encourage the government to “change this awful situation”. |
| .@MarkSteynOnline says Australia has a responsibility to process refugees & keep them in 1st world conditions #QandA https://t.co/EEaxJkkaMb | .@MarkSteynOnline says Australia has a responsibility to process refugees & keep them in 1st world conditions #QandA https://t.co/EEaxJkkaMb |
| Canadian author Mark Steyn, after saying he would “play the token rightwing madman”, upbraided the government for failing to “own the problem” of detention centres or honour its responsibility to deal “expeditiously” with refugee claims. | Canadian author Mark Steyn, after saying he would “play the token rightwing madman”, upbraided the government for failing to “own the problem” of detention centres or honour its responsibility to deal “expeditiously” with refugee claims. |
| Steyn said he was “broadly unsympathetic” to what he described as “nonsense” attempts to paint “economic” migrants seeking access to first-world countries as refugees. | Steyn said he was “broadly unsympathetic” to what he described as “nonsense” attempts to paint “economic” migrants seeking access to first-world countries as refugees. |
| “That said, I have problems with what is going on in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, which seems to me, as basically an old-school imperialist, to be colonialism with all the defects and none of the benefits,” he said. | “That said, I have problems with what is going on in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, which seems to me, as basically an old-school imperialist, to be colonialism with all the defects and none of the benefits,” he said. |
| “If you are going to warehouse people in essentially former Australian colonies, I think you have an obligation to process them expeditiously.” | “If you are going to warehouse people in essentially former Australian colonies, I think you have an obligation to process them expeditiously.” |
| Steyn said the government had “a responsibility to own the problem, so you don’t contract it to a private contractor”. | Steyn said the government had “a responsibility to own the problem, so you don’t contract it to a private contractor”. |
| “The government of Australia – if it’s going to do some deal with the government of Nauru or the government of Papua New Guinea to have some camps there – has a responsibility to run those camps and ensure, for example, there are first-class medical facilities there,” he said. | “The government of Australia – if it’s going to do some deal with the government of Nauru or the government of Papua New Guinea to have some camps there – has a responsibility to run those camps and ensure, for example, there are first-class medical facilities there,” he said. |
| “There is absolutely no reason why people should be there two-and-a-half years and why they should be there in those conditions … two-and-a-half years under a camp run by private contractors is not an acceptable policy.” | “There is absolutely no reason why people should be there two-and-a-half years and why they should be there in those conditions … two-and-a-half years under a camp run by private contractors is not an acceptable policy.” |
| Asked by host Tony Jones if there was an “end in sight” for detainees, new trade minister Steven Ciobo said the government “give people options to resettle in a third country”. | Asked by host Tony Jones if there was an “end in sight” for detainees, new trade minister Steven Ciobo said the government “give people options to resettle in a third country”. |
| Trump fills me with horror, says @lenoretaylor. @sarahinthesen8 says it's tapping into inequality debate #QandA https://t.co/UFzS8QxoAr | Trump fills me with horror, says @lenoretaylor. @sarahinthesen8 says it's tapping into inequality debate #QandA https://t.co/UFzS8QxoAr |
| After interjections by Labor MP Terri Butler, who said the government “had four people go to Cambodia” under that option and that 30 months for detainees was “a disgrace”, Ciobo shot back: “Terri, what’s your position? Do you support offshore detention or not?” | After interjections by Labor MP Terri Butler, who said the government “had four people go to Cambodia” under that option and that 30 months for detainees was “a disgrace”, Ciobo shot back: “Terri, what’s your position? Do you support offshore detention or not?” |
| Butler was then asked by an audience member if the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, would “listen to our party” by taking on board a NSW Labor conference motion at the weekend calling for the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to let asylum seekers “in limbo” stay in Australia. | Butler was then asked by an audience member if the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, would “listen to our party” by taking on board a NSW Labor conference motion at the weekend calling for the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to let asylum seekers “in limbo” stay in Australia. |
| She reconfirmed federal Labor’s position that there were “good, strong arguments that offshore detention is necessary to avoid what is colloquially called a pull factor” drawing asylum seekers by boat to Australia. | She reconfirmed federal Labor’s position that there were “good, strong arguments that offshore detention is necessary to avoid what is colloquially called a pull factor” drawing asylum seekers by boat to Australia. |
| Jones then put it to Ciobo and Butler that both Coalition and Labor policies were that “under no circumstances should those people come to Australia”. | Jones then put it to Ciobo and Butler that both Coalition and Labor policies were that “under no circumstances should those people come to Australia”. |
| Ciobo responded: “It’s the same policy. This is the madness of Labor’s position.” | Ciobo responded: “It’s the same policy. This is the madness of Labor’s position.” |
| Butler accused the government of thinking “you’ve got to have people living in poverty and pain when what you should have done is processed them and got them resettled as quickly as possible”. | Butler accused the government of thinking “you’ve got to have people living in poverty and pain when what you should have done is processed them and got them resettled as quickly as possible”. |
| Ciobo replied: “You’re being a complete hypocrite.” | Ciobo replied: “You’re being a complete hypocrite.” |
| Green senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who described herself as “one of the few Australians” allowed to see inside Nauru and Manus Island detention centres where some 1,500 asylum seekers are held, said both major parties embraced a “deterrence policy designed to break people”. | Green senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who described herself as “one of the few Australians” allowed to see inside Nauru and Manus Island detention centres where some 1,500 asylum seekers are held, said both major parties embraced a “deterrence policy designed to break people”. |
| “The fact is Labor and Liberal both say let’s send these people offshore and forget about them … and hope they give up,” Hanson-Young said, adding a “more humane approach” would begin with bringing detainees back into Australia. | “The fact is Labor and Liberal both say let’s send these people offshore and forget about them … and hope they give up,” Hanson-Young said, adding a “more humane approach” would begin with bringing detainees back into Australia. |
| .@lenoretaylor thinks Labor's negative gearing policy is sensible. @sarahinthesen8 says we need the courage #QandA https://t.co/IRSvnDiAAp | .@lenoretaylor thinks Labor's negative gearing policy is sensible. @sarahinthesen8 says we need the courage #QandA https://t.co/IRSvnDiAAp |
| Hanson-Young earlier questioned whether broadcaster Alan Jones was “getting more and more senile day by day” after his comments on Monday that there needed to be “another stolen generation” to protect Indigenous children from drug-addicted parents. | Hanson-Young earlier questioned whether broadcaster Alan Jones was “getting more and more senile day by day” after his comments on Monday that there needed to be “another stolen generation” to protect Indigenous children from drug-addicted parents. |
| The panel discussed whether the effects of “hate speech” dictated the need for legal limits on free speech, a debate animated by the Australian government’s ill-fated examination of narrowing the scope of racial vilification laws used successfully to sue conservative columnist Andrew Bolt. | The panel discussed whether the effects of “hate speech” dictated the need for legal limits on free speech, a debate animated by the Australian government’s ill-fated examination of narrowing the scope of racial vilification laws used successfully to sue conservative columnist Andrew Bolt. |
| When Jones suggested there was “no evidence whatsoever” of the broadcaster being senile in his several appearances on Q&A, Hanson-Young said: “No, and you know he might be offended I’ve said that, but he’s a big promoter of free speech so I’m sure he won’t have a problem with it.” | When Jones suggested there was “no evidence whatsoever” of the broadcaster being senile in his several appearances on Q&A, Hanson-Young said: “No, and you know he might be offended I’ve said that, but he’s a big promoter of free speech so I’m sure he won’t have a problem with it.” |
| Steyn argued there was no case for government “regulating free speech”, saying the ignorant and ill-informed would be “defeated … in the marketplace of ideas”. | Steyn argued there was no case for government “regulating free speech”, saying the ignorant and ill-informed would be “defeated … in the marketplace of ideas”. |
| “The ‘N-word’ as they call it in the United States, a derogatory word for black people, makes up a big chunk, 80% of rap records,” he said. | “The ‘N-word’ as they call it in the United States, a derogatory word for black people, makes up a big chunk, 80% of rap records,” he said. |
| “‘Queer’ used to be a pejorative term and then people reclaimed it and started using it. You get into very dark territory when you start criminalising language.” | “‘Queer’ used to be a pejorative term and then people reclaimed it and started using it. You get into very dark territory when you start criminalising language.” |
| Guardian Australia political editor Lenore Taylor, appearing on the panel, said it was a backlash from “those sections of our community that are subject to racial discrimination” that forced the government under Tony Abbott to abandon moves to curtail the scope of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. | Guardian Australia political editor Lenore Taylor, appearing on the panel, said it was a backlash from “those sections of our community that are subject to racial discrimination” that forced the government under Tony Abbott to abandon moves to curtail the scope of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. |
| “The backlash was so strong that they really just politically couldn’t go ahead with it and didn’t go ahead with it,” Taylor said. | “The backlash was so strong that they really just politically couldn’t go ahead with it and didn’t go ahead with it,” Taylor said. |
| “I personally think that section 18C might be drawn slightly too broadly but there has to be some kind of recourse to racial vilification. I don’t want to live in a society where racial vilification is OK.” | “I personally think that section 18C might be drawn slightly too broadly but there has to be some kind of recourse to racial vilification. I don’t want to live in a society where racial vilification is OK.” |
| The panel were also asked to consider the prospect of billionaire Republican candidate and reality television celebrity Donald Trump becoming US president. | The panel were also asked to consider the prospect of billionaire Republican candidate and reality television celebrity Donald Trump becoming US president. |
| Taylor said it filled her with “complete horror”, while Butler said the current presidential contest was a testament to the “moderate” outcomes wrought by Australia’s compulsory voting. | Taylor said it filled her with “complete horror”, while Butler said the current presidential contest was a testament to the “moderate” outcomes wrought by Australia’s compulsory voting. |
| Butler denied under questioning from Jones that Trump’s ascension would prompt Labor to reconsider the US alliance. | Butler denied under questioning from Jones that Trump’s ascension would prompt Labor to reconsider the US alliance. |
| Steyn said that Trump and “socialist” Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders were “the same phenomena” as populists, and the latter could not be ruled out if they went head to head. | Steyn said that Trump and “socialist” Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders were “the same phenomena” as populists, and the latter could not be ruled out if they went head to head. |