Paige Taylor; 10/7/09; (4 Items)
The Rudd government has eased congestion on Christmas Island by granting visas to 70 asylum-seekers, who yesterday flew on a plane chartered by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship for new lives on the mainland. The group of men, women and children – most of them Hazara Afghans but also including Iraqis, Pakistanis and one Sri Lankan – is the largest on Christmas Island to be granted asylum on one day since the government came to power in November 2007. A spokesman said they had arrived in different boats in April and May this year. Queensland and Victoria would each receive 23 of the refugees, South Australia would become home to 14, NSW and the ACT would each receive three and four would go to Western Australia.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25759049-5013404,00.html
Frantic quest for asylum-seekers
Paul Maley and Stephen Fitzpatrick; 10/7/09
Austra;lian officials were last night frantically trying to ascertain the fate of up to 74 asylum-seekers aboard a stricken fishing boat, after Foreign Minister Stephen Smith conceded reports that the Indonesian navy had rescued the boat were wrong. Mr Smith’s admission came as Indonesian officials expressed frustration over what they described as “inaccurate” information from the Australian Federal Police regarding the boat’s supposed sinking. In a statement released late last night, Mr Smith said an assurance he offered on the ABC’s Lateline program 24 hours earlier – that the boat had been rescued after the AFP tipped off Indonesian authorities – was wrong. Mr Smith said his advice was based on reports conveyed by the Indonesians to Australian officials in Jakarta.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25759054-5013404,00.html; Asylum seekers on ‘missing boat’ safe; Geoff Thompson; http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/09/2621728.htm?section=justin; Mystery of night boat and its texts; Yuko Narushima; http://www.theage.com.au/national/mystery-of-night-boat-and-its-texts-20090709-depa.html
Underpaid migrants awarded $8k
9/10/09
The Fair Work ombudsman has recovered more than $8,000 for a migrant couple who were underpaid while working in Western Australia’s Goldfields. The husband and wife moved to WA to manage a seven-day-a-week business. They claimed they were made to work more than 80 hours each week but were paid a flat rate of $835. Fair Work ombudsman director Leigh Quealy says migrants with limited or no English skills are vulnerable, but have the same basic rights and protections as anyone. “The work place relations laws apply equally to migrant workers as they do to any Australian-born worker,” he said.
See: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/09/2621349.htm?section=justin
We have infiltrated party: KKK
Erik Jensen; 10/7/09
The Ku Klux Klan says it has infiltrated an anti-immigration party preparing to contest seats at the next federal election. David Palmer, the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in Australia, said several Klan members had secretly joined Australia First, a far right party that announced yesterday that it had the numbers to register as a political party. “We aren’t interested in actually registering as a party,” Mr Palmer said. “Our main idea was we would move in and take back what we consider our Aryan parties. [The Klan] is a white pressure group; a white social group for white families. But also a reserve in case the ethnics get out of hand and they need sorting out.”
See: http://www.smh.com.au/national/we-have-infiltrated-party-kkk-20090709-der4.html
Tags: Australia, Indonesia, KKK, Migrants & Refugees, Workers