Bartlett's Blog

I mentioned in this post about appearing before a Senate Committee hearing  as patr of their inquiry into the welfare of international students.  That Committee tabled its report in the Senate in the final sitting days of the year.  Almost all the attention at the time was on the legislation dealing with climate change, and the related leadership tension in the Liberal Party, so the report got fairly limited ...

Yungaba: Last change to see One theme which is rather common through Queensland’s history is a failure to recognise important aspects of the past or to value its built heritage.  So perhaps in a sadly ironic way, it could be seen as apt that a very historic building, and most of its grounds, are about to officially pass into the hands of developers to be http://www.yungaba.org.au/development.html turned into upmarket ...

I had the slightly curious but none the less worthwhile experience a couple of weeks ago of providing evidence to a public hearing a Senate Committee inquiry, sitting on the opposite side of the table from where I’d been so many times since 1997. The inquiry is into issues surrounding international students.  While a lot of the media coverage has focused on violence towards some students in some southern ...

The federal government should be commended for making such a comprehensive effort at casing so many perspectives in it consideration of electoral reform options, as well as for providing an apparently genuine effort at seeking public opinion.  The second electoral reform Green Paper released this week by Special Minister of State Joe Ludwig covers a wide terrain, canvassing many options without actually promoting any. This post from The Poll ...

There is more evidence that, however unjust and dysfunctional the administration of Australia's immigration laws was in our recent past, it is being outstripped by what has been happening in the USA. There are more and more examples coming to light in the USA that have echoes of the Cornelia Rau and Vivienne Alvarez debacles of the Howard era in Australia.  The reasons these things are happening are similar ...

I had an article published in the main Crikey e-newsletter today, outlining some of the trends, facts and government responses to the well over 40 million refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced and stateless people around the world. It seems likely the issue of asylum seeker boat arrivals will once again be moving closer to the political centre stage in Australia, even though these currently number less than 1000 out of ...

Until around nine months ago, I rarely paid much attention to state politics, apart from some specific issues. But I’ve had to engage with many aspects of it much more directly in recent times as part of one of the paid jobs I’m currently doing. I’ve probably been at more meetings and events in the last couple of weeks than I have over the previous decade where discussion ...

Here are links to a few pieces I’ve written elsewhere. This one is a piece at New Matilda about the dangers of kneejerk suggestions that we should actively slash migration because of the looming economic downturn. And two pieces at Crikey on migrant representation in Parliament

Back in March I wrote about Nazanin Afshin-Jan, a campaigner I met at a human rights conference in Taiwan who focused a lot of her efforts on trying to bring about an end to the Iranian government’s practice of allowing the execution of children. Recent news reports suggest the efforts of Nazanin and other human rights campaigners in this area may have born some fruit, with this report quoting an Iranian ...

Last weekend it was the Love Earth Gathering. This weekend it’s the bigger and broader Greenfest, being held at Brisbane’s Southbank – starting at noon on Friday afternoon with world renowned ecologist Dr Jane Goodall.  The Piazza at Southbank will also be host to a series of other speakers across the entire weekend, covering issues from housing to energy to transport to business.  I’ll be chairing a session on the Sunday ...

I was interested to see this report in today's Sydney Morning Herald detailing a number of candidates contesting the upcoming local elections in Sydney's Sutherland Shire - scene of the infamous Cronulla riots three years ago - with a campaign message specifically attacking refugees and migrants. Modern day political correctness seems to require one not to use the term "racist" to describe statements that attack others on the ...

It is disappointing, but sadly not surprising, to see this report in the Canberra Times suggesting the Coalition is planning to adopt a more explicitly anti-migrant position. Despite all the evidence about the demographic inevitability of a shrinking labour force, growing international mobility (including record emigration from Australia) and the latest research showing the significant net economic benefit migrants create for Australia, the political temptation for the ‘Liberals’ is ...

After many years and hundreds of millions of dollars, the new immigration jail detention centre on Christmas Island has finally been completed – and of course stands empty.  A range of community based human rights organisations were recently able to inspect the detention centre.  This report on the Amnesty International website gives a good idea of how wasteful and inappropriate the facility is. I have always been baffled by ...

I have had a piece published today in New Matilda on the federal government's recent changes to immgration detention. You can read it by clicking on this link.

I am pleased to see the federal government has formally announced a trial allowing up to 2500 people from neighbouring countries of Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea to do seasonal work in Australia. In doing so, they have shown up the failure of courage and policy integrity of the previous government. The Opposition’s complaint that this proposal is “rushed” is simply false.  The idea has been debated ...

The economic ramifications of the further fall in house prices in many parts of Australia are being widely debated. Hopefully, it will not cause any let-up in the pressure for further action to address the continuing crisis in housing affordability. Apart from anything else, these house price falls are unlikely to provide much relief for those in the private rental market, which is where the worst price pressures ...

Since finishing up in the Senate, I have been trying to take the opportunity to do a range of different things, focusing on areas where I think I can be useful and/or which I find interesting or enjoyable. Apart from spending more time in pastimes like music or social cricket, and speaking at and attending events about  human rights, animal welfare and the environment, a lot of my ...

A couple of good articles in Brisbane’s News Limited papers over the weekend about the challenges facing newly arrived refugees in the Brisbane region (although no doubt the issues are similar elsewhere).

It is wonderful to see the news that the federal government plans to finally scrap mandatory indefinite immigration detention and adopt the common sense (and much cheaper) approach that people should not be locked up for extended periods just because they are without a valid visa, unless there are compelling reasons to do so.  Immigration Minister Chris Evans’ speech outlining the changes is available here.  It is worth reading ...

Australia’s recently introduced citizenship test is currently being reviewed by the new Immigration Minister, Senator Chris Evans. Germany is in the process of introducing a similar test, which will operate from Sept 1st.  Some of the criticisms of it are similar to those that have been raised here. This article, reporting on a conference on immigration issues between Germany Turkey, quotes Mustafa Unal, a Turkish MP, and Dieter Oberndorfer, a German ...