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Dear Reader,

As Federal Opposition Leader, you'd think it is my job to highlight all the worst aspects of the Federal Government. Every time they do something truly egregious, you'd think it would be my job is to call them out on it.

The big story of the week was, of course, the horrific treatment by the Federal Government of the Murugappan family, and the fact that their youngest child, Tharnicca -- who was born in Australia -- spent her fourth birthday in Perth children's hospital being treated for sepsis caused by medical neglect inflicted by the Federal government.

You'd think this would be a pretty hands-down case to call the government out on, right?

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And you're a naive idiot who doesn't understand politics if you think otherwise.

You see, here at the Labor Party, we've been tying ourselves in knots about refugees for the past 20 years. We know deep down it's wrong to torture people, but at the same time, it is rather popular with voters in key marginal seats.

And just because it's got to the point where Australian-born 4-year-olds have been drawn into the war on refugees does not change anything. Just because the Government has spent $6.7 million torturing this one family doesn't change anything. 

There are times when you have to search through your heart and look at the moral core of an issue, and act based on that conviction, regardless of the political circumstance. This is not that time. 

What about the pro-torture voters in the outer-suburbs of Sydney and Brisbane? We need their support to be able to form government. Are we really going to go out on a limb and oppose torture just because it's the right thing to do? If we make the tough decision to duck this fight, then when we get into government we can torture this family in a more compassionate way. Everyone wins.

What you have to realise is that for 20 years there has been a political consensus in Australia that we should torture people who dare to flee to this country. Nobody has been arguing for a more humane approach to refugees. Certainly not us.

Some people argue that an Opposition Leader should oppose the government. But that's not how opposition works. You just don't argue for change, and then, over time, win the argument. What you do in opposition is hope that the government falls over and you accidentally win, Steven Bradbury-style in the final quarter with your wind to your back. 

And we should know about opposition, because we've been in opposition for most of the past 20 years, right. We're the experts.

It would take years of concerted political advocacy to shift the politics of refugees in Australia. So why start now?

Charles Firth
Federal Leader of the Opposition
 

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