THERE seem to be so many contentious issues getting the headlines in the media these days, that it seems opportune to raise the issues of rights and responsibilities, comprehensive consultation, balance and common sense.
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None of these matters can be unilaterally decided.
Border protection, at least on the surface, seems an admirable goal. But what about the people on the unseaworthy boats and their families looking death and starvation in the face?
What about people confined to detention centres on Nauru, Manus and Christmas Islands without hope of release, or of children who know no other life than one behind wire?
Nobody would approve of Australians disappearing overseas to fight with rebel armies, but even these people are surely entitled to due process of law, rather than an arbitrary decision taken by a minister in parliament.
People in receipt of disability pensions are currently under review, and many are reputedly being removed from the eligibility list.
This could be a mine field where disenfranchised people are being punished without adequate investigation and their conditions, especially psychiatric ones are only being exacerbated.
There are probably many more examples to illustrate this point, but these help to open up the subject.
Rights and responsibilities exist on all sides of the debate, and law makers, decision makers and public opinionists have a vast arena to explore before balanced, humanitarian and common- sensed decisions can actually be made. A decision simply to benefit Australia may not necessarily be a good one.
A decision to protect the government pension coffers from possible misuse requires careful and insightful research before people are sacrificed.
We expect our policy makers and politicians to take all reasonable means to ensure that these values are upheld.
Unfortunately, party politics can sometimes get in the way of commonsense and balanced outcomes.
One can only hope that the scales of justice will measure accurately and that good judgment, the rights and responsibilities of all concerned, balance and commonsense will prevail.