Friends,

With Bill Shorten’s announcement on Wednesday night of his plan to push for the ALP to adopt a policy of boat turnbacks, we at the Refugee Council of Australia responded with a statement strongly opposing the move –

http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/media/turnback-policy-is-pandering-to-the-politics-of-fear/

As we receive so many questions about what regional cooperation on refugee protection could mean in practice, today I wrote an opinion piece  on this topic.

See https://newmatilda.com/2015/07/23/we-need-move-beyond-rhetoric-regional-solutions-refugees

The New Matilda article is based roughly around a 5-page document we have produced with input from the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network.

I hope this is a useful contribution to what is a poorly developed debate in Australia – and so I’d encourage you to read it and to share it to anyone you think may be interested.

Today, if you have a chance, contact your local ALP member of Senator and let their office know your concerns about adopting a policy which supports turning back vulnerable people seeking refuge.

Best wishes,

Paul Power

Chief Executive Officer

Refugee Council of Australia

Suite 4A6, 410 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia