The Northern Territory's Labor Senator, Trish Crossin, says the Federal Government showed no compassion for asylum seekers when it excised Melville Island from Australia's migration zone earlier this month.The Labor Party yesterday voted down the Government's excision regulations after a motion was moved by the Democrats in the Senate.
Senator Crossin says the 14 Turks should have been brought onshore to be processed.
"This Government is yet to explain to the Darwin community why it has spent $7.4 million building a processing centre in Darwin when we have 14 Turks arrive only 20 kilometres off our shore," she said.
"Instead of towing that boat to Indonesia they could've brought those people onshore, housed them at the processing centre and dealt with the issue there."
The Darwin Refugee Action Network has welcomed the Senate overturning the excision regulation.
The network's Michael Hodson says the Labor Party should have stepped in earlier.
"It seems that on November 7 when the Labor Party had a chance to vote the regulation down at that stage they were playing it safe and allowed the Government in fact to carry out its action in removing a boatload of asylum seekers from Australian waters," he said.
"The action today to disallow the regulation, I guess, is fairly meaningless in regards to those 14 people whereas on Friday November 7 it may have had some direct impact on what happened."
By Brian Deegan 25 November 03
THE VOTER: Put your left foot forward and Vote 1 The Greens for Absolute Compassion, Reality and Justice.
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