EDITORIAL : THE AUSTRALIAN, AUSTRALIA

Painful double reality

TWO articles demonstrate why resolution of the Palestinian problem has been so difficult ("Palestinian priority is to resume talks with Israel" and "Reality missing in Obama map for the Middle East", 21-22/5).

The pro-Arab article by Samah Sabawi fails to mention that Hamas does not recognise Israel's right to exist and is vowed to the state's destruction. Similarly, the pro-Israel article by Colin Rubenstein fails to address the ongoing and illegal land grab of Arab territory in the West Bank.

Nothing will be settled until both sides accept reality; that is, Israel's right to exist and Palestine's right to returned territory.

Graham Pinn, Buderim, Qld

THIS drive for separate Arab and Jewish states will fail because, as Yasser Arafat said, "We don't want peace, we want victory. Peace for us means Israel's destruction and nothing else. What you call peace is peace for Israel. For us it is shame and injustice. We shall fight on to victory. Even for decades, for generations, if necessary." 

Detention inquiry OK but we must deter boats

GIVEN the disturbingly high incidence of violence and vandalism plaguing Australia's immigration detention facilities, it is difficult to make a strong case against the opposition's call for a select committee inquiry.

Despite the potential politicking involved, even the Greens, who passionately rail against detention and defend the rights of detainees, might feel duty-bound to support it. The Gillard government no doubt is working to reassert and maintain order in the Villawood and Christmas Island centres but given the protests, fires, escapes, self-harm and assaults, it can hardly argue that this issue is not worthy of scrutiny.

Some criticism has focused on Serco, the private operators of detention facilities, but whether they are run by the public or private sector, the government is responsible for ensuring the centres deliver the appropriate security, care and safety for detainees, workers and visitors. With detention facilities now spread across every state, there has been some understandable disquiet from neighbouring communities, so restoring public confidence could be important.

The Greens suggest an inquiry should also examine the mandatory detention policy itself, which has been supported by both major parties since it was introduced by the Keating government almost 20 years ago. While most pragmatic observers would recognise that detention has been a key element of deterrence over that period, there should be no problem allowing an examination of its effectiveness, especially given Labor and Liberal governments have modified it over time, in particular trying to keep children out of the detention system.

Yet at the core of this issue is the frustration that Australia should not be carrying the financial, practical and moral burden of holding more than 6000 asylum-seekers in detention. The Howard government developed a number of controversial measures, including the so-called Pacific Solution, involving third-country processing in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. The unambiguous result of these policies was to halt the influx of boats and secure our borders while we continued an orderly, generous annual intake of humanitarian refugees.

When Labor came to power in 2007, only six people remained in detention and Labor MPs mocked the expensive new detention centre at Christmas Island as a "white elephant". The Rudd government then unpicked the Pacific Solution and softened the border protection regime, triggering the resumption of the evil and dangerous people-smuggling trade.

This history is important because the aim is to remove the need to have anyone in detention by stopping the boat arrivals. As former Labor leader Mark Latham said on Australian Agenda yesterday, last December's Christmas Island tragedy should have ended the argument about whether stopping the boats was the right goal. Julia Gillard's clumsy and incomplete Malaysian solution betrays a belated recognition that the correct strategy is to remove any incentive for people to make the perilous boat journey. She should now swallow her pride, stop fiddling with variations of the Pacific Solution and immediately set about re-opening the processing centre on Nauru. Otherwise we risk more boats, tragedies and detention problems. 

Fine craftsman's final curtain

GRUFF and rough-hewn in most of his roles, the late Bill Hunter described his own talents with a similar matter-of-fact directness.

Devoid of pretension, he dismissed elaborate discussions of the finer points of acting, suggesting that putting on a costume and remembering some lines created most of the magic in what to him was not art but a craft. This instinct for understatement saw him become the very embodiment of the laconic Australian in his fine and enduring acting career. Hunter's filmography reads like a history of the modern Australian film industry. He rode high in 1978, picking up the best actor AFI award for the classic Newsfront, and played his part in many landmark films, from Gallipoli and Strictly Ballroom, to Muriel's Wedding and Australia. Starting in television and translating also to the stage, he was known as an advocate for his craft, his industry and the Labor Party. Hunter famously fronted the Keating government's Working Nation television promotions in the 1990s. Over-used as they are, the terms stalwart and legend duly apply to Bill Hunter. In a career spanning half a century he carved out a reputation for dependable and uniquely Australian honesty, sensitivity and charm. Australia's cultural life will be poorer for his passing, while his body of work, some yet to be released, will live on.