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September 10th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda SYDNEY — Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen on Saturday refused to confirm reports that the government is poised to revive a plan to send asylum-seekers to Malaysia by changing existing legislation.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard reportedly cut short her visit to New Zealand for the Pacific Islands Forum to meet with senior ministers in Canberra on how to resolve the Malaysia deal which was recently blocked by an Australian court.
Media reports said the government was considering changing the 1958 Migration Act — which controls immigration into Australia — to ensure the offshore processing of asylum-seekers can go ahead.
“Our consideration of the entire matter of the regional framework, of how to deal with asylum seekers is well advanced and we’ll be saying more in coming days,” Bowen told reporters in Sydney.
“But we’ve made it clear that we have all options on the table.”
Attorney-General Robert McClelland has said that amending the act is “appropriate”.
“Obviously the cabinet… (has) to consider these issues but yes we believe that an amendment is desirable to put offshore processing beyond doubt, we think that should be done,” McClelland told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The government, which is flailing at record lows in opinion polls, was dealt a heavy blow last month when the High Court ruled against its plan to send 800 asylum-seekers to Malaysia.
Canberra had hoped the arrangement — under which it agreed to resettle 4,000 of Malaysia’s registered refugees — would deter asylum-seekers from risking their lives on perilous boat journeys to Australia.
But the High Court rejected the deal, saying Australia could not transfer asylum-seekers to another country unless that nation was bound by law to protect them.
Malaysia is not a signatory to the United Nations convention on refugees.
Refugee activists said they were disappointed the government could now amend the law.
“The Government and the parliament should fully respect the ruling of the High Court instead of trying to come up with ways of circumventing that ruling,” said David Manne, a lawyer from the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre.
Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.
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