Today, the Tasmanian Greens Leader, Kim Booth MP, and Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, welcomed efforts from the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce in continuing the public discussion about the opportunities that would flow from processing refugees in Tasmania, rather than in expensive and cruel off-shore processing facilities.
Senator Whish-Wilson said, “The Tasmanian Opportunity is a clarion call for rational policy making in this highly politicised space.
“Taking in asylum seekers is a moral and legal obligation. Where better to process asylum seekers than in the welcoming arms of Tasmania? It would be a win for fairness, a win for the tax-payer and a win for the Tasmanian economy.
“I am proud to say that the Greens have always led on this campaign. I hope that the politicians from other parties begin to repudiate offshore processing and see that The Tasmanian Opportunity is the better way,” Senator Whish-Wilson concluded.
State Greens Leader Kim Booth MP said, “The Tasmanian Greens continue to call for an onshore processing facility to be established in Tasmania, and urge the other two parties in the State Parliament to also endorse this humane alternative option.
“No matter how tough Tasmanians are doing it, we have a proud tradition of still being able to see beyond ourselves and offering others doing it harder a helping hand. Many are appalled at the inhumanity of the Abbott government’s off-shore internment camp regime.”
“We believe there is merit in alternative models, such as that proposed by Mr Julian Burnside QC, and we are committed to assisting in the development of a formal plan to be put to government to establish Tasmania as a humanitarian on-shore asylum seeker processing centre,” Mr Booth said.