What motivated the release of refugees? The possibility of an election loss …

Democrats refugee spokesperson, Chris Simpson:

Imagine being incarcerated for nine years for nothing more than seeking a better life. Imagine being locked up at 24 years of age and finally released at 33; a federal election is looming and you will not have the right to vote!

In half this time you could have completed a trade, a degree, gone on to start your own business. Instead, incarceration gave this government the chance to laud its tough stance on border protection and you remained detained – detained for arriving by boat to Australia; the Lucky Country.

You will have spent six years in offshore detention in Nauru before being transferred to Australia in 2020 for medical treatment. 

Our Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Honourable Minister Dutton, from December 2014 to August 2018, oversaw Operation Sovereign Borders and gloated about his achievements in “stopping the boats”. In a state of sheer indignation; he did not offer a mea culpa today, but continued his missionary zeal as Defence Minister, in defence of Australia! 

Whether the impending election loss sees the LNP government lose office or not, the greater loss is to this 33-year-old man who will never get those 9 years back.

The greatest tragedy is that we, the Australian people, are now so much poorer for our inability to reconcile this shameful travesty of justice!

Photo: The ABC

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