Detention discussion

Refugee advocates seek more changes. :

"The director of the New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry, Dr Louise Newman, says the changes are a mediocre compromise that do not fully address the issues faced by families in detention.

'The devil will be in the detail,' she said.

'We need to certainly see what this actually means in practice."

This situation with the detention centres has gone on and on. It's a weeping wound in our society which can become very infected . The situation has been untenable. There have been some changes. I do not think we are going to see an overnight transformation in the situation because as Meg Lees has said in another article:


Costello almost cost the GST, Lees says


We haven't particularly had a government that has been open to discussion. It's only recently there has been an abandonment of the potshot, ad hominem, undermine and destroy approach . Consultation has come back onto the scene and the leaders have been seen discussing issues with other groups in the community. It's actually been nice to get back to a country where experts and their experience are valued and they then discuss whatever issues are the order of the day. The team effort. So the detention matter has become quite serious and severe and it will take a lot of looking, talking , adjusting and changing before we have a system which suits us. We cannot approach it with a rosy eyed view of the world but it certainly is unworthy of us to adopt a draconian approach. For as long as people are talking, for as long as there is expert input, and for as long as we can see some moves forward then I think evolution is the way to go because the situation has been so unstable and emotional instability needs to be managed methodically, even if our policies are the ones which have created the extreme emotions in the first place.