Fielding says Rudd should move on queue jumpers
Family First Leader Senator Steve Fielding has called on the Rudd Government to get its act together to stop people smuggling so our defence force personnel aren’t put at further risk.
From Senator Fielding’s media release:
The Senator’s comments follow a coroner’s inquest which found three Afghan asylum seekers were responsible for causing a boat to explode killing five people near Ashmore Reef last year.
“The Rudd Government has clearly got a problem with the influx of asylum seekers heading our way yet they don’t seem willing to fix the problem,” Senator Fielding said.
“Even if the government refuses to accept it needs to take a tougher approach with immigration it should at least act so our defence force personnel aren’t put in harms way.
“We need to make sure our defence personnel are being looked after and we should always be making policy decisions with this consideration in mind.
“The last thing I want to hear is of Australians being killed in the line of duty because we have a soft policy on queue jumpers.
“Australia’s agreement with Indonesia will do little to stop people smuggling when the Indonesian punishment for this crime is significantly weaker than what is handed down for drug smuggling.
“It’s time the Rudd Government stopped making superficial changes and got serious about coming up with a real long term solution.”
