At the end of the day Howard got to look "tough" on the issue because instead of processing their claims on Australian soil, we paid the pacific nation of Naaru to house them while we processed their claims of refugee status, of which IIRC lots of them, surprised, turn out to be genuine refugees.
Now Tampa II is coming to a political campaign near you
Lets put this statement in the context of what Andrews was asked. He wasn't just asked about African integration, he was also asked about an 18 year old Sudanese man who was bashed to death by 3 white guys.African refugees are fighting: Andrews
4th October 2007, 16:17 WST
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews says African refugees are fighting each other in nightclubs, forming gangs and congregating in parks to drink alcohol.
The federal government denied it was racist, but Mr Andrews ensured the race politics continued for another day by releasing material about African refugees provided to him by his department.
He did not provide any statistics to back up the claims.
Mr Andrews said there appeared to be problems specifically with African migrants, who were having difficulty in settling in Australia.
These concerns included the presence of "race-based gangs", reports of "altercations between African groups in nightclubs", tensions between African families leading to violence, and concern about crime among African youth.
There were also "reports of a developing trend of young African males congregating in parks at night, often to drink alcohol", he said.
Mr Andrews defended his decision to cut African refugee numbers to just over 4,000 this year and take in about 9,000 from Asia and the Middle East.
"Having a more equal focus across Africa, the Middle East and Asia hardly constitutes racism," he said, promising to review the makeup next year.
The minister has been under fire for suggesting the federal government was accepting fewer African refugees this year because they were finding it difficult to integrate.
In August, Mr Andrews said the real reason for the cut was that the government needed to accept more refugees from other parts of the world, including those displaced by the Iraq war.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon has said Africans are not over-represented in crime statistics.
Many Sudanese refugees who arrive in Australia have lived through years of violence and require trauma counselling.
Most have low levels of education and require government support to learn English, find jobs and adapt to the Australian way of life.
Prime Minister John Howard denied his government was engaging in race politics and whipping up fear.
"Absolutely not, that's a contemptible suggestion," Mr Howard said as he campaigned in north Queensland.
The Edmund Rice Centre, which works with refugees from Sudan, said the government was fanning the flames of racism in a desperate bid to be re-elected.
The centre's director, Phil Glendenning, said Mr Andrews had stooped to gutter politics by smearing an entire race of people.
"The bottom line is that the government sees itself in political difficulty approaching the election and is deliberately targeting one of the world's most vulnerable communities for some sort of political gain," Mr Glendenning said.
"This is not leadership.
"This is lowest common denominator politics at its worst and indicates what some politicians think of the people who elect them."
Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes said the government's move to single out African refugees was "un-Australian".
World Vision Australia head Tim Costello warned other countries may stop taking Sudanese refugees displaced by the Darfur crisis if Australia clamped down on African migration.
Tim Costello called on Mr Howard to explain that the government's reduction in its intake of African refugees was not linked to Sudanese violence, but was simply because refugees from Iraq and Burma were a higher priority.
"I am very disappointed if there is a link between Sudanese violence and a quick end to this program," Mr Costello said.
"If countries like us in the humanitarian program take that approach, no one will take Africans.
"The prime minister has to say very clearly that this has nothing to do with them being violent, but that it was the recommendation of the human rights commissioner."
AAP
So which is it Mr Andrews? Is the intake of African refugees because there are higher priorities elsewhere or because they really are more prone to crime and anti social behaviour, in which case back it up with statistics considering the Victorian police commissioner's contradicts your claim.
I have no problem with the former (which I suspect is the real reason), however the latter is blatant attempt to appeal to the "us and them" mentality displayed by many racists. This is most probably an attempt to capitalise on anything in a bid to get votes, kind of like the Tampa incident. This time there isn't a Norwegian boat coming to rescue the government, so they have to manufacture stuff up.
And the response shows that Queensland's new premier isn't afraid of calling a spade a spade
And remember folks, its only racist when rednecks do it. With politicians their motivations are less clear, so they get the benefit of the doubt. Except when its black politicians descriminating against white Zimbabweans, then its obviously racist. Because the only way to tell someone is racist is by their motivation (which requires you to have mind reading powers), rather than by the action itself.
