25,000 Australian citizens are seeking Australian Government help in evacuting from war stricken Lebanon. Criticism is being leveled at DFAT and Alexander Downer about the slowness of respones. Let's just take a minute to look at the situation - Firstly 25,000 citizens are in a nation that DFAT has had a travel warning current for over a month... you are assuming some risk when you disregard the warning. Secondly, the Australian Government doesn't possess the assets to move 5,000 soldiers as rapidly as some people are expecting 25,000 civilians (dispersed throughout an active war zone). We have no ships nearby - Lebanon is half the world away so is this really surprising, and air is out of the question due to the on going conflict and targeting of airports.
Thirdly, lets look at who else we are competing with to get our citizens out via private shipping and other means; 25,000 US, 20,000 French, 45,000 Canadians, 34,000 Filipino, 90,000 Sri Lankans, 20,000 British. It is obvious that obtaining assets will cost a premium and this is extreme demand in a short supply environment.
I think it is time that the critics take a reality check...
Out of those 25,000 Australians I want to know how many dual citizens there are. One thing this situation definetly raises is in regards to dual citizenship. This evacuation will end up costing the Australian taxpayer significant amounts - so how often do we expect our dual citizens to actually contribute to the Government by paying tax? Should we require a financial year's worth of tax in every decade? Dual citizenship is fine, but when it costs Australia so much to support our offshore citizens, we need some contribution to this nation finacially from them! I wonder how much tax those 25,000 Australians have contributed in the past five years.... enough to cover the costs of chatering six ships for their evacuation?
4 comments:
The press is full of Australians complaining about the delay, but as a quick examination of the situation shows, it is not a simple job to get done!
Some work mates are headed over to assist with the process - will be hard work.
Very thoughtful analysis. Nice site, Ben.
Well said, Ben.
Of those 25,000, I think only 10% are tourists in the usual sense. These are the people who probably need the most urgent assistance.
The remainder are either visiting relatives or have returned there permanently after fleeing to Australia (and gaining citizenship) in the 80's. These folk are probably not entirely without other avenues of local support.
Cheers
-- Mike
(PS I found your blog by following the link from your comment on David Costello's Courier-Mail blog.)
PM Howard on 2ME 20 JUL 06
"Well I want to say them that we are doing everything we can to help our fellow Australians, we have not abandoned Australians of Lebanese background in Lebanon or indeed anywhere else in the world, all Australians are treated equally. It’s a war-like situation, it is changing from hour to hour, almost minute to minute, and I understand fully the sense of despair and anguish and desperation. But it’s happened suddenly, we are a long way from Lebanon. Unlike other countries, we don’t have ships and planes right nearby because it’s a long way and we are doing everything we can. 315 have already been evacuated and I hope that hundreds more will be evacuated over the coming days, but I don’t want to be more specific because the situation can change."
I think he covers that well.
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