Letters to PAT CONAGHAN MP Federal Member for Cowper

The Murugappan family

Dear Mr Conaghan,

It is not and has never been illegal to seek asylum in Australia, whether arriving by boat or plane.  Keeping people in indefinite detention is, however, illegal under our international obligations.
I understand what the official Government policy states, and that both major parties subscribe to it.  It is cruel and needless in my opinion.  The boats have been successfully turned back for many years now.  The option of New Zealand has been offered to our country over the last several years, and should immediately be accepted.

Whether the Tamil family needs protection is not the issue, they are a hard working decent family that were making their own way in a regional town that valued them, and need to be returned there.  Priya saw her family murdered before her eyes and she and her husband have good reason to fear for the safety of their family simply because of their ethnicity
.
Thank you very much for your reply, I really appreciate it. I just cant  agree with injustice.  Australia should not discard people as not worth giving assistance to simply because of a political ideal.  Kindness is underrated when we discuss our country's values.  As is true equality for all.
Yours faithfully,
Pat de Jong

On 30 July 2020, at 9:31 am, "Conaghan, Pat (MP)" <Pat.Conaghan.MP@aph.gov.au> wrote:

Dear Mrs de Jong,

Thanks for your email.

I understand you have had long-standing apprehensions regarding the treatment of asylum seekers. I appreciate your heart-felt concern for people who have been impacted by the Australian Government’s immigration policies.

As has been stated on many occasions by the Government, those who have tried to enter Australia illegally, trying to circumvent the process we have in place to assist genuine refugees, will never be allowed to stay here permanently.

I don't believe those who have tried reaching our shores by boat are cunning criminals, but I certainly believe those who provide the boats, who provide the opportunity as a 'viable' alternative to a legitimate refugee process, are the criminals. These criminals do not care about the human cost, they do not care for the safety of their 'cargo' and are waiting for any opportunity to recommence their activities. The last time people smugglers took this type of opportunity, people died. We do not want to see any more senseless deaths at sea. If that means our Government stays tough on border protection, then so be it.

In relation to the Murugappan family you refer to (the family on Christmas Island), both adults arrived in Australia as Illegal Maritime Arrivals (IMA), having paid a people smuggler and arrived in Australia illegally by boat. After arriving separately in Australia, they met and married and had two children. Since 2012, the family’s claims to engage Australia’s protection obligations have been comprehensively assessed on a number of occasions by the Department of Home Affairs and various merits review bodies. The family has consistently been found not to be owed protection. Mr Murugappan was found not to engage Australia’s protection obligations in late 2012 and that decision was affirmed by the Refugee Review Tribunal in 2013. Mrs Murugappan was found not to engage Australia’s protection obligations in 2016. The Immigration Assessment Authority affirmed that decision in 2017. These decisions have also been the subject of judicial review, including in the Federal Magistrates Court/Federal Circuit Court, appeal to the Full Federal Court and applications for special leave to appeal to the High Court. Each of these applications have been dismissed.

Our country has one of the most generous humanitarian programs in the world. We do more than most to assist and resettle genuine refugees in need of protection and will continue to do so.

Yours sincerely,

Dear Mr Conaghan,
It is not and has never been illegal to seek asylum in Australia, whether arriving by boat or plane.  Keeping people in indefinite detention is, however, illegal under our international obligations.
I understand what the official Government policy states, and that both major parties subscribe to it.  It is cruel and needless in my opinion.  The boats have been successfully turned back for many years now.  The option of New Zealand has been offered to our country over the last several years, and should immediately be accepted.
Whether the Tamil family needs protection is not the issue, they are a hard working decent family that were making their own way in a regional town that valued them, and need to be returned there.  Priya saw her family murdered before her eyes and she and her husband have good reason to fear for the safety of their family simply because of their ethnicity
.
Thank you very much for your reply, I really appreciate it. I just cant  agree with injustice.  Australia should not discard people as not worth giving assistance to simply because of a political ideal.  Kindness is underrated when we discuss our country's values.  As is true equality for all.
Yours faithfully,
Pat de Jong

Dear Mrs de Jong,

Thanks for your email.

I understand you have had long-standing apprehensions regarding the treatment of asylum seekers. I appreciate your heart-felt concern for people who have been impacted by the Australian Government’s immigration policies.

As has been stated on many occasions by the Government, those who have tried to enter Australia illegally, trying to circumvent the process we have in place to assist genuine refugees, will never be allowed to stay here permanently.

I don't believe those who have tried reaching our shores by boat are cunning criminals, but I certainly believe those who provide the boats, who provide the opportunity as a 'viable' alternative to a legitimate refugee process, are the criminals. These criminals do not care about the human cost, they do not care for the safety of their 'cargo' and are waiting for any opportunity to recommence their activities. The last time people smugglers took this type of opportunity, people died. We do not want to see any more senseless deaths at sea. If that means our Government stays tough on border protection, then so be it.

In relation to the Murugappan family you refer to (the family on Christmas Island), both adults arrived in Australia as Illegal Maritime Arrivals (IMA), having paid a people smuggler and arrived in Australia illegally by boat. After arriving separately in Australia, they met and married and had two children. Since 2012, the family’s claims to engage Australia’s protection obligations have been comprehensively assessed on a number of occasions by the Department of Home Affairs and various merits review bodies. The family has consistently been found not to be owed protection. Mr Murugappan was found not to engage Australia’s protection obligations in late 2012 and that decision was affirmed by the Refugee Review Tribunal in 2013. Mrs Murugappan was found not to engage Australia’s protection obligations in 2016. The Immigration Assessment Authority affirmed that decision in 2017. These decisions have also been the subject of judicial review, including in the Federal Magistrates Court/Federal Circuit Court, appeal to the Full Federal Court and applications for special leave to appeal to the High Court. Each of these applications have been dismissed.

Our country has one of the most generous humanitarian programs in the world. We do more than most to assist and resettle genuine refugees in need of protection and will continue to do so.

Yours sincerely,

PAT CONAGHAN MP

Federal Member for Cowper

Dear Mr Conaghan,

I am writing to you as my local representative because it has distressed me for years now that refugees have been imprisoned and left without any certainty of a normal future life in society. Every one of them has fled persecution, whether called by our country a 'refugee' or asylum seeker. Only desperate people risk their lives in leaky boats, not cunning criminals as one or two politicians have described them.

Please do your utmost to have all of them, either offshore or here locked up from Christmas Island (the Biloela family) to mainland cities, released into society. You can be assured that there are many many organisations prepared to care for all of them. It has been so utterly cruel and immoral what Australia has and still is doing.

Thank you also for your advocacy concerning a decent amount for our unemployed to live on.

By the way, millions of dollars,hundreds of millions, will be saved by doing this. Just read about what Peter Dutton has showered various companies(e.g. Paladin) with in return for 'guarding' the refugees.

Regards,

Pat de Jong.

-----Original Message-----
From: Pay Dr Jong
Sent: Saturday, 25 July 2020 3:48 PM
To: Conaghan, Pat (MP)
Subject: Refugees

Dear Mr Conaghan,

I am writing to you as my local representative because it has distressed me for years now that refugees have been imprisoned and left without any certainty of a normal future life in society. Every one of them has fled persecution, whether called by our country a 'refugee' or asylum seeker. Only desperate people risk their lives in leaky boats, not cunning criminals as one or two politicians have described them.

Please do your utmost to have all of them, either offshore or here locked up from Christmas Island (the Biloela family) to mainland cities, released into society. You can be assured that there are many many organisations prepared to care for all of them. It has been so utterly cruel and immoral what Australia has and still is doing.

Thank you also for your advocacy concerning a decent amount for our unemployed to live on.

By the way, millions of dollars,hundreds of millions, will be saved by doing this. Just read about what Peter Dutton has showered various companies(e.g. Paladin) with in return for 'guarding' the refugees.

Regards,

Pat de Jong.