Government launches campaign to deter asylum seekers from arriving by boat
The government has launched a campaign to deter asylum seekers from trying to reach Australia by boat.
The campaign sees Prime Minister Julia Gillard feature in ads running online that carry the slogan ‘no advantage’, pointing out that refugees will not be processed any faster if they arrive in Australia by sea.
The ads are targeted at embassies, the UN and ‘transit countries’ for economic and political migrants, distributed through DVDs, posters and online.
I think they misinterpreted the show “Go Back To Where You Came From”.
I’m quite surprised YouTube is the best channel for this. I guess it’s advantageous because it’s not censored and they’ve offered the videos in different languages.
Yeah, cuz some random dude dodging artillery and sniper bullets is really going to log onto youtube…
This ad is for the Aussie voting public only. I hope Virgin offer cheap flights for asylum seekers.
Gillard appears to not be aware of her own immigration laws. If you are granted asylum in Australia, you are able to sponsor your family to come to Australia and how can she credibly say that you won’t be processed faster if you arrive by boat. Manus Island and PNG will house hundreds of refugees whereas literally hundreds of thousands of refugees are languishing in camps around the world.
Just more spin and lies.
Bob – my thoughts exactly!! What a joke… yet another waste of my tax paying money!
This ad is quite well targeted. Many people arriving on boats to claim asylum are doing so because friends and relatives and contacts from their community who are already in Australia are telling them to come. They actively choose to seek asylum rather than come through family reunion in many instances because of all the perks being offered to those who are given resettlement in Australia. So clearly the hope is that the same community in Australia will communicate the policy changes, which has certainly been the case until now. What remains to be seen is whether the government will truly live up to the “no advantage” promise.