(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most people in Australia dislike the way the federal government has handled the recent arrival of a boat full of Sri Lankan asylum seekers, according to a poll by Essential Research. 52 per cent of respondents say the administration of Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has been too weak in its approach to the issue.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most people in Australia dislike the way the federal government has handled the recent arrival of a boat full of Sri Lankan asylum seekers, according to a poll by Essential Research. 52 per cent of respondents say the administration of Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has been too weak in its approach to the issue.
For more than a month, 78 Sri Lankans have lived aboard the Oceanic Viking, an Australian Customs vessel currently stationed off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, all of them have refused the Australian government’s order for them to disembark in Indonesia, where they would be detained until their refugee claims to resettle in Australia are processed.
The government of Australia, led by Rudd’s Australian Labor Party (ALP), has more recently offered to expedite all the asylum claims in order to put an end to the stand-off. It has also offered to provide language courses, financial and employment assistance for those whose claims are approved. Reports suggest that the applications of 30 people living on the boat have already been approved.
In the survey, 27 per cent of respondents say the opposition Liberal Party is better to deal with asylum claims, while 23 per cent say ALP is better. However, 37 per cent of respondents say it makes no difference who is in power.
On Nov. 12, former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer criticized the government’s offer to the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, declaring, "By providing accelerated processing, what they’re doing of course is solving an immediate problem, but all they’re doing is providing an incentive for people to try the same thing in the future."
Polling Data
Thinking about the way the federal government has handled the asylum seeker issue recently, do you think they have been too tough, too weak or have they taken about the right approach?
|
Too tough
|
9%
|
|
Too weak
|
52%
|
|
Taken about the right approach
|
28%
|
|
Don’t know
|
11%
|
Which party do you think would be best at handling the issue of asylum seekers?
|
Liberal
|
27%
|
|
Labor
|
23%
|
|
No difference
|
37%
|
|
Don’t know
|
13%
|
Source: Essential Research
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,105 Australian adults, conducted from Nov. 2 to Nov. 8, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
