The Western world today is desperately in need of courageous political leadership. The issue which directly triggers this editorial has been the Australian Federal Government's gutlessness and lack of moral courage over the issue of asylum seekers. That issue is only one of many that demand courageous moral leadership and far sighted vision. Both seem to be commodities in short supply in the leadership of any of the major political parties in the Western world at the moment.

The urgent need for courageous political leadership in the Western world...

This morning the Australian Federal Labor Government is reported to have set its sights on overturning the recent decision of the High Court of Australia to prohibit the offshore processing of asylum seekers [LINK: ABC News "Labor Caucus backs offshore processing" See also SMH: "PM 'determined' to change law to get Malaysia swap through"]. It was announced that the government will attempt to do this by legisation. It remains problematical if this can be achieved as it has also been anounced in the news that the Conservative opposition parties continue to remain very much opposed to the Government's preferred option of having the offshore processing conducted in Malaysia [LINK: ABC News "Opposition ready to torpedo Malaysia deal"]. This news is actually quite bizarre given that a Nielsen Poll published in the Fairfax Press today shows that a clear majority of Australians now support the processing of claims for asylum within Australia. Fairfax newspapers are reporting:

The latest Herald/Nielsen poll finds 54 per cent of voters believe asylum seekers arriving by boat should be allowed to land in Australia to be assessed. Just 25 per cent say they should be sent to another country to be assessed while 16 per cent believe the boats should be "sent back" and 4 per cent don't know.

The phone poll of 1400 people was taken from Thursday night to Saturday night and shows attitudes against offshore processing have hardened in the wake of the August 31 High Court decision which ruled the Malaysia plan unlawful and cast a legal cloud over the "Pacific solution" locations of Nauru and Manus Island. [LINK: SMH "Gillard out of step with most voters"]

While it is to be welcomed when, from time to time, political leaders seek to shun public opinion and seek to provide leadership to their people and persuade public opinion to change, this is not one of those occasions. What we see happening in Australia at the moment is a fierce competition led, not by this nation's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, but by the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, to stir up those small elements in the Australian electorate who are emotionally volatile and driven by no more lofty principle than "Me! Now!". Julia Gillard appears to live in dread and fear of Abbott's ability to garner the support of this small, but potentially electorally determining minority and sweep her from power whenever the next election is held. Rather than attempting to provide credible moral leadership that might persuade the Australian electorate to reject Abbott's approach, Julia Gillard, seems to be constantly trying to play political "catch up". Sadly she is slowly turning the Australian Labor Party toxic in the eyes of the great majority of the Australian electorate and this is reflected in recent opinion polls.

Any reasonably informed person today must be aware that our world is entering very uncertain and challenging times. The number of asylum seekers in the world at the moment is part testimony to this. Driving all of this is the global financial crisis — which has largely been triggered by greed in the Western nations and our overvaluing our net worth by perhaps 300%. Added to this we have the challenges posed by the unsustainable exploitation of the world's renewable energy resources by recent generations not to mention the threat to our lifestyles imposed by climate change whether it is through natural causes or by human-induced influences. The last thing our world needs at the moment is political leaders who are endeavouring to stir up the emotions of the minority elements in a population who provide the entertainment fodder for talk-back radio shock jocks. Sadly, what is happening in Australia at the moment is reflected in new forms of timidity that are to be found in most Western nations of the world. Politicians are today, "on the nose" almost everywhere one looks — men and women of small stature who attempt to climb to power via an appeal to the very forces of greed and selfishness in sectors of the population who have no long term view for their own welfare or that of their neighbourhoods and the world.

In a recent article published in "The Good Oil", the journal of the Good Samaritan Sisters, Clare Condon SGS, who is leader of the Good Sams argued that the present policies are "a failure in the moral credibility of a wealthy nation". Here at Catholica we fully endorse the views expressed by Sr Clare. What she calls for in this article is a sane alternative to the selfishly sick and myopic policies presently being promoted by a Federal Government that is now driven only by fear of their Opposition. Click the image below to read the full text of Sr Condon's article.

Sr Clare Condon's article...

Brian Coyne, Editor and Publisher, 12 Sep2011

LINK:
Full URL for Sr Condon's article in "The Good Oil":
www.goodsams.org.au/good-oil/time-to-rethink-our-approach-to-asylum-seekers/
PHOTO CREDIT:
The photo of Bishop Morris used in the headline has been sourced from the Courier Mail article which broke this story in the mainstream media. The photo is credited to Bruce Long of the Courier Mail and can be found on the web version of the story: HERE

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