Australian of the Year is becoming Left Wing Whinger of the Year
Mark Henderson Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry’s mealy-mouthed back-tracking on mandatory detention does no credit to him or his new position.
McGorry has waded into a very divisive debate with ill-considered comments and then a confused about face, to the detriment of the position of Australian of the Year and to our national day of celebration.
For a start, the mental health of illegal immigrants is only part of the bigger picture. Just because things might be tough in the camps doesn’t mean we just open the floodgates, by ending mandatory detention, to every Third World citizen who wants a better life .
If someone arrives at the border without a valid passport and visa they go into Immigration Detention and if they can’t produce the bona fides they either get sent packing or are locked up. It is the same everywhere.
As Kevin Rudd is finding out, when you go soft on border protection the people smugglers bounce into action.
Ending mandatory detention would be like laying out an even bigger welcome mat to the 10-15 million displaced people in the Third World.
McGorry just hasn’t joined up the dots on this.
And when he backflipped and said it wasn’t really Kind Kevin who was the problem but Horrible Howard, he just made things worse.
Why is detaining people in squalid conditions in Indonesia, or in camps on Christmas Island, more compassionate than detaining them on Manaus Island or Nauru?
Why is a policy which encourages the people smugglers back into business – at the cost of lives on the high seas – more caring than putting the criminals out of business, stopping the flow of illegal immigrants to a trickle and reducing or stopping loss of life at sea?
And why is the Australian of the Year rapidly turning into left-wing social conscience Whinger of the Year appointment.
Last year we had to put up with Mick Dodson on his aboriginal crusade.
In 2007 it was Tim Flannery, global warming alarmist of the year and false prophet of climatic doom.
Patrick McGorry needs to realise that a great many Australians, probably even a majority, oppose illegal immigrants jumping the queue and coming here on leaky boats.
He has been appointed Australian of the Year, not Sri Lankan of the Year.
And the appointment should aim to unite Australia, not divide it.
This hilarious “appointment” has relegated such actions to the “Blue Hills”of labor stupidity and has resulted in the alienating of many.I personally believe the surgical team who separated the “Siamese twins”should be recognised en masse instead of that closet lefty.
In other words, the committee that selects these awards are idiots; same sort as picked Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize. That still makes me laugh!
Anti-Christian of the Year? Julia Gillard. She really seems to hate Catholics being Catholics.
We need Joke of the year instead.. Kev would be my choice
Nice article Mark and spot on.
We’ve had three years of left wing loony appointments.
Who picks these whingeing windbags.Does The Age have final say on who wins Australian of the Year?