Respected Leader of the Opposition
We watched Mark Latham last night on the ABC addressing a panel of residents from his Parliamentary district and fielding questions on the various topics presently framing the campaign issues for the elections next Spring: taxes, of course, both personal and business; immigration, especially regarding illegal entrants to the country and the present policy of mandatory detention; the “war on terror” and Australia’s relationship with the U.S.; and when will Australia become a republic. Outside one question regarding governmental subsidization for IVF procedures that I think he might have dealt with more forthrightly if he hadn’t been flummoxed by the selfishness it represented, I was perhaps only disappointed with Latham’s response to the issue of illegal immigration and detention, and that is tempered by how he means to address the issue. I’m very impressed by Latham generally. I think he takes a good line on the country’s place in the region and how it should engage with its neighbors and with the U.S. He is nobody’s lapdog internationally. The fact that he intends to take the country into the future as a republic is, I think, very positive indeed. However, mandatory detention is a problem. At least the prospect of indefinite detention will be largely removed: Latham wants immigration status sorted out within 90 days, at which point it’s either deportation or integration. I’m a little worried over the effective placement of immigrants into outlying areas; although it will decrease the burden on cities, especially Sydney, the destination of choice, is there or can there be sufficient infrastructure and employment opportunities to support the policy? At least he’s thinking of these things and trying to work up the policies and budget to address them. How successful he’s actually going to be is, I think, more dependent on getting more than one term in office than in getting the top spot alone.