Saturday 19 February 2011

The start and finish of 'charity' according to Hartsuyker


The Federal Member for Cowper and Shadow Spokesperson for the Dog Whistle on the NSW North Coast forgets that old saying that although charity begins at home it should not end there and that Australia has international humanitarian obligations as well as domestic commitments:

THE Gillard Government is refusing to support university students from regional areas whilst doling out millions of dollars to keep asylum seekers in hotels and motels, The Nationals federal member for Cowper's Luke Hartsuyker said today. Mr Hartsuyker was commenting on media reports the Government is forking out $2.5 million a month to house 500 asylum seekers and that an extra $290 million will be required this year to fund Labor’s failed border protection policy. “The Gillard Labor Government simply has the wrong priorities,” Mr Hartsuyker said. [Stock and Land,15 February 2011]

With the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott now heading a coalition which appears to be fast redefining itself as anti-immigration and anti-Muslim, it is hardly surprising to find Hartsuyker seeking media attention by parroting yet another dubious version of Abbott's "With so many schools destroyed or damaged in Australia we do think that charity begins at home".

This week:

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