Asylum seekers may be housed at Inverbrackie (Woodside)

[Dirko]

The first group of 81 asylum seekers have moved into Inverbrackie

How they get the boat up the hill?

[fish]

Sorry, old boy, but since I've been back in SA my social life has been getting busier, and as this site grows I no longer have time to read every post.
Every so often. like today, I have a bit of a catch up but tend to only read the more recent entries when I do.

Your points?
1. I vaguely recall this, but ignored because I was a bit sick of politics at the time, after all the post-election bullshit from both sides. I'm not a Tony Abbott fan.
2. I hadn't noticed that one - in fact I didn't even recognise the name as I don't pay much attention to real extremists.
3. I recall reading that, but agreed with the trend of comments here and had nothing to add.
4. I noticed what I thought it was an inappropriate intrusion into a Christmas pageant for the political purpose of pushing a group political agenda, so I commented.

Fair enough Psyber I'll accept that on face value but I'm slightly bemused that you chided me for not reading the thread properly when you hadn't done so yourself...

Anyway, moving on, I cannot agree with you that only locals can and should have a say about the detention centre. As a taxpayer I sure have an interest in how the Commonwealth Government spends my money and in this case they have my full support - retrofitting an existing residential facility is far cheaper than building a new one from scratch. This fact seems to have become lost in the hysteria and hatred surrounding this issue.

[fish]

I visited Woodside today to watch my nephew play cricket. I had braced myself for some anti refugee posters but saw none - maybe the good people of Woodside have woken up to themselves and realised that detention centre this represents an opportunity and not a threat!

Was also surprised to see that Inverbrackie is quite a distance from Woodside, with quite a bit of farmland between the two.

[fish]

I reckon it's time to change this thread title to "Asylum seekers are housed at Inverbrackie".

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/asylum-seekers-move-in-to-inverbrackie-in-adelaide-hills/story-e6frea6u-1225973153311

IT'S been a harrowing week for refugees in Australia, but yesterday South Australia did its best to open its heart and welcome 81 men, women and children who moved into the Inverbrackie detention centre. And, it seems, they felt our love.

A small welcoming party waved flowers and signs which read "we welcome refugees" - translated into several languages - as the buses rolled through a security checkpoint and on to detention centre land. The asylum seekers were driven up a hill so they could disembark and explore their surroundings out of sight of the waiting media.

[Psyber]

Sorry, old boy, but since I've been back in SA my social life has been getting busier, and as this site grows I no longer have time to read every post.
Every so often. like today, I have a bit of a catch up but tend to only read the more recent entries when I do.

Your points?
1. I vaguely recall this, but ignored because I was a bit sick of politics at the time, after all the post-election bullshit from both sides. I'm not a Tony Abbott fan.
2. I hadn't noticed that one - in fact I didn't even recognise the name as I don't pay much attention to real extremists.
3. I recall reading that, but agreed with the trend of comments here and had nothing to add.
4. I noticed what I thought it was an inappropriate intrusion into a Christmas pageant for the political purpose of pushing a group political agenda, so I commented.

Fair enough Psyber I'll accept that on face value but I'm slightly bemused that you chided me for not reading the thread properly when you hadn't done so yourself...
Anyway, moving on, I cannot agree with you that only locals can and should have a say about the detention centre. As a taxpayer I sure have an interest in how the Commonwealth Government spends my money and in this case they have my full support - retrofitting an existing residential facility is far cheaper than building a new one from scratch. This fact seems to have become lost in the hysteria and hatred surrounding this issue.

I chided you about not reading one post thoroughly, not a whole thread, and interpreting its meaning out of context, but fair enough let's move on.

I visited Woodside today to watch my nephew play cricket. I had braced myself for some anti refugee posters but saw none - maybe the good people of Woodside have woken up to themselves and realised that detention centre this represents an opportunity and not a threat!

Was also surprised to see that Inverbrackie is quite a distance from Woodside, with quite a bit of farmland between the two.

Perhaps the whole thing was a storm in a tea cup that may not have arisen at all had there been some pre-announcement consultation with information about the plan provided to the locals at the time.
Nothing stirs up hostility like high-handedly imposing a decision without warning or consultation.
It gives ammunition to the hot-heads and the few extremists who may be in the area.

[saintal]

I wasn’t planning on posting anything more in this thread (opinions have been well and truly established by now), but just had some random thoughts:

Was driving past Inverbrackie on Saturday morning and it was certainly a hive of activity. People everywhere. Furniture trucks lining the streets. Will take some getting used to! Another bus-load rolled in this morning apparently.

The site is probably 3-4km from Woodside. When you live in the hills such a distance is considered insignificant Fish.

I read with interest that the group of 81 had spent the past several months in a Darwin Hotel. If this isn’t a sign that the Govt needs to regain control of what is going on I’m not sure what is. $$$$

Also found this interesting coming from the UN: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees regional representative Richard Towle says large numbers of people now coming through the asylum system in Australia are not refugees and "the challenge is how to find fair and humane and effective ways of allowing them to leave this country to go home", Fairfax newspapers report.

Yesterday’s Courier (Hills Newspaper) mentioned that a pro-refugee group has asked the Immigration Department if the newly arrived group of 81 can attend tonight’s Woodside Christmas Pageant. The Immigration Department had no issues with this, but it will depend on Serco. Am I the only one who thinks this would be extremely dumb and ill-timed? (and how would it be securely managed?) This pro-refugee group is living in fairyland if they believe all the town’s residents are all suddenly supportive of the centre. Will be interesting to see if the float from the Blackwood Parade is present tonight.

[dedja]

Also found this interesting coming from the UN: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees regional representative Richard Towle says large numbers of people now coming through the asylum system in Australia are not refugees and "the challenge is how to find fair and humane and effective ways of allowing them to leave this country to go home", Fairfax newspapers report.

Just to add some balance to this debate, it would be good if someone could dig up some facts about the percentage of asylum seekers that come to Australia that are ultimately successful when assessed.

I don't have these figures handy but my perception is that the success rate is relatively high ... Tampa for example, IIRC the vast majority were afforded asylum.

Does anyone have any official stats on this?

[Psyber]

... Yesterday’s Courier (Hills Newspaper) mentioned that a pro-refugee group has asked the Immigration Department if the newly arrived group of 81 can attend tonight’s Woodside Christmas Pageant. The Immigration Department had no issues with this, but it will depend on Serco. Am I the only one who thinks this would be extremely dumb and ill-timed? (and how would it be securely managed?) This pro-refugee group is living in fairyland if they believe all the town’s residents are all suddenly supportive of the centre. Will be interesting to see if the float from the Blackwood Parade is present tonight.

I'm not sure what percentage of this arrivals are Muslim, but I wonder how many would feel slighted and/or discriminated against if asked/invited to attend a Christian pageant.
This one even has pagan roots - that may make it even less acceptable.
On the other hand the more moderate individuals of any religion would presumably feel comfortable about respecting and seeing another groups' rituals.
[ I happily attended both a Hindu temple and a Mosque in KL, and posed for photos outside the Mosque with a gentleman in full beard, flak jacket, and carrying an AK47.]

[redandblack]

Are we really debating whether children attending a Christmas Pageant is OK or not?

[Psyber]

Are we really debating whether children attending a Christmas Pageant is OK or not?

I'm just suggesting that what may be meant as a nice welcoming gesture could be interpreted another way by someone who was a bit militant, or a bit "sensitive".
I was thinking of adults/parents' views not children's.

[Gozu]

Just to add some balance to this debate, it would be good if someone could dig up some facts about the percentage of asylum seekers that come to Australia that are ultimately successful when assessed.

I don't have these figures handy but my perception is that the success rate is relatively high ... Tampa for example, IIRC the vast majority were afforded asylum.

Does anyone have any official stats on this?

I can't remember the official stats but I know quite a lot of people were granted asylum during the Howard years. It's sad but that was kind of the political genius of Howard that the Right thought he was anti-immigration, stopping the boats (they almost all ended up here anyway) etc when in essence it was the complete reverse.

I've never heard a politician spin better than Honest John.

[Q.]

Also found this interesting coming from the UN: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees regional representative Richard Towle says large numbers of people now coming through the asylum system in Australia are not refugees and "the challenge is how to find fair and humane and effective ways of allowing them to leave this country to go home", Fairfax newspapers report.

Just to add some balance to this debate, it would be good if someone could dig up some facts about the percentage of asylum seekers that come to Australia that are ultimately successful when assessed.

I don't have these figures handy but my perception is that the success rate is relatively high ... Tampa for example, IIRC the vast majority were afforded asylum.

Does anyone have any official stats on this?

This is the best I could find at the moment:

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1294102/At-a-glance:-Who-takes-the-most-refugees/

...Australia was ranked 33rd for total asylum applications with 6206 new applications in 2009...

...3441 asylum seekers were given refugee in Australia last year, roughly 1 cent of total migration to Australia during the year 2009.

[saintal]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 5977838084

Will there be any ramifications for "escaping"? Doubt it. Yep, it was only a few meters to pick fruit, but that is hardly the point. I did have a chuckle at the quote attributed to the Dept of Immigration.

Personally I'm not concerned about my safety, but I can see why other locals are.

[Gozu]

What an odious specimen that Jamie Briggs is:

South Australian federal Liberal MP Jamie Briggs says an incident at the Inverbrackie Detention Centre highlights security problems at the facility.

The Immigration Department has confirmed some children detained at the centre jumped an internal fence to pick plums.

The department says the children remained within the bounds of the centre.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... ion=justin

[Footy Chick]

Are we really debating whether children attending a Christmas Pageant is OK or not?

I think it's hilarious, given that a lot of kindys and primary schools won't even allow FC (not me, the fat man in the red suit) to visit them anymore...

I think good on 'em if they embrace it...

Just on a side note - the Afghan girls who live next door to me knocked on the door on Christmas Eve and gave me a Christmas card with a gift of a Christmas cake and a jar of jam. A very nice gesture

[saintal]

What an odious specimen that Jamie Briggs is:

South Australian federal Liberal MP Jamie Briggs says an incident at the Inverbrackie Detention Centre highlights security problems at the facility.

The Immigration Department has confirmed some children detained at the centre jumped an internal fence to pick plums.

The department says the children remained within the bounds of the centre.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... ion=justin

This does not match the quote attributed to them in the other article and the eyewitness report. Nothing but spin.

[dedja]

That's pretty bad ... better get the firing squad out.

[Psyber]

Dumb kids - there is a nice winery just up the road.

[The Apostle]

I had braced myself for some anti refugee posters but saw none - maybe the good people of Woodside have woken up to themselves and realised that detention centre this represents an opportunity and not a threat!

Or maybe it's just another case of "no use protesting anymore as it's a done deal"...