Pat McGorry attacks 'reprehensible' detention

[Wisord]

Government must "show leadership on immigration"
Keeping people detained is draconian - McGory
Concerned about plight of asylum seekers
AS he prepares to hand over the Australian of the Year title awarded by the Government last year, Pat McGorry has hit out at Labor's immigration policies as "draconian" and "morally reprehensible", maintaining that detention centres are breeding grounds for the mentally ill.
Speaking to The Australian, the mental health expert said while he had enjoyed his time as the nation's most esteemed achiever, he believed the Government needed to "step up and show real leadership" on immigration, mental health and indigenous inequality.

"I would like to see more decisive action in those areas," Professor McGorry said.

"In the detention centre area, I think it does need all sides of politics to rise above this currently very disappointing and disillusioning stance . . . there is no need for this draconian policy of keeping people detained while their claims are being sorted. It's morally reprehensible."

..Last year, Professor McGorry - who worked extensively with refugees in the 1990s - labelled detention centres as "factories for producing mental illness" after receiving his award on Australia Day eve and said he intended to talk to then prime minister Kevin Rudd about the plight of asylum-seekers.

Since then, there have been three suicides and multiple protests - including hunger strikes and detainees sewing their lips together - among the now 6288 people in detention centres.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced last week that the Government would appoint two new federal magistrates specifically to deal with an expected increase in asylum claims after accepting the results of a High Court ruling that raised serious questions about the value of offshore processing.

The changes announced by the Government would extend the appeal options available to asylum-seekers. But Mr Bowen said the government was also considering laws to limit access to the courts.

Professor McGorry, 58, who is head of Orygen Research Centre and founder of the Headspace youth mental centres, said apart from disappointments in immigration and mental health services, one of the most shocking discoveries he made during his travels across Australia through the year was the inequality experienced by indigenous Australians.

He said a move to a republic would help to abolish the disparity between non-indigenous and indigenous Australians.



Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/pat-...#ixzz1AeZ5OcIr

http://www.news.com.au/national/pat-...-1225984739490


En dat voor de Australier van het jaar .

[Caligula]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Wisord

http://www.news.com.au/national/pat-...-1225984739490


En dat voor de Australier van het jaar .

en uw opinie desbetreffend moeten we uit uw neus peuteren?

[Wisord]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Caligula

en uw opinie desbetreffend moeten we uit uw neus peuteren?

Jij blijft uit mijn neus uit vunzig kereltje .