Last week, in a wretched backdown to the racists, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard pushed the idea of restarting John Howard's "Pacific Solution" by building a refugee processing centre in Timor. The Timorese government made it clear pretty quickly that they didn't want any part in it, and now their rejection has been underlined by a unanimous vote in the Timorese Parliament. But despite this, the Australians are pressing on with the plan:
But sources said Canberra would persist with the idea, because the East Timorese Prime Minister and ministers do not sit in the parliament, the resolution was non-binding, and only about 34 of the 65 members turned up to vote.Of course, those Ministers have already rejected the idea, and those 34 members are a majority. But Australia doesn't seem to regard either fact as an obstacle. It really makes you wonder what the Timorese have to do to get the message across.
