The other day, my dad brought to my attention that Fox New's Bill O'Reilly talked about Australia on his TV show.
While my dad acted very impressed with what O'Reilly had said, when I read the transcript, I was disgusted and angered.
O'Reilly talked about Australia's detention center policies, and then said, But you don't hear much condemnation of Australia and inside that country both political parties support the tough immigration laws. There is little moral debate.
I actually can't say that O'Reilly lied, because his statements above are open to interpretation. Maybe his idea of "much condemnation" and "little moral debate" is different than mine.
From my years of being interested in Australia, I feel I've seen a huge amount of moral debate among Australians regarding immigration and asylum seekers. I've also seen quite a bit of condemnation from the international community.
But again. It's open to interpretation.
It's like an outsider can point to the United States, and say, Americans have little moral debate about abortion, gay marriage, guns, etc. They have a right to believe it, and they have a right to say it. I have a right to believe they're ignorant and delusional.
As for the political party thing... From what I can remember, O'Reilly is correct on that point. I think both the Labor and Liberal party do support immigration policies that are similar. But what Bill O'Reilly failed to mention is that, in Australia, parties outside the main two DO have some political power.
According to Lord Wiki, Australia's parliament has ten members that come from the Green party. The Green party is very much on the left, and they campaign heavily for the rights of asylum seekers.
How about the average Australian who is not in politics? Do most of them support a system that would make people like Bill O'Reilly happy?
According to this article? No. There was a poll, and 63% of Australians questioned said refugees needing protection should be allowed to settle in the country.
Yes. Australia has Pauline Hanson and many others like her. I'm sure that she and Bill O'Reilly would get along handsomely. But O'Reilly needs to take off his rose-colored glasses and see that Australia is not some kind of xenophobic-utopia.
Anyway...in case anyone from team O'Reilly comes to my blog and doesn't believe me about Australia, I'm going to provide a list of links below.
1. Here's the Australian Greens policy page about immigration and refugees
2. Here's an article about Amnesty International condemning Australia
3. Here's the actual condemnation from the Amnesty International Website.
4. Here's a reality TV show in Australia that showed the plight of asylum seekers.
5. Here's an article about the United Nations not being happy with Australia's treatment of Asylum seekers.
6. Here's an Australian newspaper editorial about the treatment of asylum seekers, and it's one of many.
7. Article in the Huffington post about the mistreatment of asylum seekers.
8. A whole feature by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) that teaches young (and other) Australians about kids in detention. There are many comments posted by Australians who wish for better treatment of asylum seekers.
9. A long, informative, and powerful editorial written by Julian Burnside, a barrister and human rights advocate.
10. Recent (December 2016) editorial from an Australian who is very unhappy with Australian policies against asylum seekers.
11. Sydney Morning Herald editorial by Waleed Aly from 2014.
Yeah. Seriously. I have spent several years reading about Australia, and seeing Australians speak out against the shitty treatment of asylum seekers was NOT a rare thing for me.
P.S- I'm too lazy to search for a bunch of articles/links now, but as I run into things, I will add them to the list.
While my dad acted very impressed with what O'Reilly had said, when I read the transcript, I was disgusted and angered.
O'Reilly talked about Australia's detention center policies, and then said, But you don't hear much condemnation of Australia and inside that country both political parties support the tough immigration laws. There is little moral debate.
I actually can't say that O'Reilly lied, because his statements above are open to interpretation. Maybe his idea of "much condemnation" and "little moral debate" is different than mine.
From my years of being interested in Australia, I feel I've seen a huge amount of moral debate among Australians regarding immigration and asylum seekers. I've also seen quite a bit of condemnation from the international community.
But again. It's open to interpretation.
It's like an outsider can point to the United States, and say, Americans have little moral debate about abortion, gay marriage, guns, etc. They have a right to believe it, and they have a right to say it. I have a right to believe they're ignorant and delusional.
As for the political party thing... From what I can remember, O'Reilly is correct on that point. I think both the Labor and Liberal party do support immigration policies that are similar. But what Bill O'Reilly failed to mention is that, in Australia, parties outside the main two DO have some political power.
According to Lord Wiki, Australia's parliament has ten members that come from the Green party. The Green party is very much on the left, and they campaign heavily for the rights of asylum seekers.
How about the average Australian who is not in politics? Do most of them support a system that would make people like Bill O'Reilly happy?
According to this article? No. There was a poll, and 63% of Australians questioned said refugees needing protection should be allowed to settle in the country.
Yes. Australia has Pauline Hanson and many others like her. I'm sure that she and Bill O'Reilly would get along handsomely. But O'Reilly needs to take off his rose-colored glasses and see that Australia is not some kind of xenophobic-utopia.
Anyway...in case anyone from team O'Reilly comes to my blog and doesn't believe me about Australia, I'm going to provide a list of links below.
1. Here's the Australian Greens policy page about immigration and refugees
2. Here's an article about Amnesty International condemning Australia
3. Here's the actual condemnation from the Amnesty International Website.
4. Here's a reality TV show in Australia that showed the plight of asylum seekers.
5. Here's an article about the United Nations not being happy with Australia's treatment of Asylum seekers.
6. Here's an Australian newspaper editorial about the treatment of asylum seekers, and it's one of many.
7. Article in the Huffington post about the mistreatment of asylum seekers.
8. A whole feature by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) that teaches young (and other) Australians about kids in detention. There are many comments posted by Australians who wish for better treatment of asylum seekers.
9. A long, informative, and powerful editorial written by Julian Burnside, a barrister and human rights advocate.
10. Recent (December 2016) editorial from an Australian who is very unhappy with Australian policies against asylum seekers.
11. Sydney Morning Herald editorial by Waleed Aly from 2014.
Yeah. Seriously. I have spent several years reading about Australia, and seeing Australians speak out against the shitty treatment of asylum seekers was NOT a rare thing for me.
P.S- I'm too lazy to search for a bunch of articles/links now, but as I run into things, I will add them to the list.