Which fits with your last option, SATP: deliberate twisting of a non-event into a race issue by Andrews, for electoral purposes.

http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2007/s2052835.htm

So was the whole thing a beat up by a stupid/biased journalist? A scoop and run knee-jerk reaction by a stupid/biased member of the public? A very bad presentation of the policy by Andrews? Or a deliberate twisting of a non-event into a race issue by Andrews, for electoral purposes?

I think I noted earlier on the thread that it was kinda interesting that Andrews might be lying about the reasons for the government’s decision.

But I’m not surprised, I guess, to see that no one in the federal ALP can bring themselves to put the case against Andrews with the same degree of forthright truth-telling as Anna Bligh just did.

Oh, btw, I just got spammed by Kevin07 while I was writing this!

Tony Bourke here, Mark. Doing his version of the limbo dance.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/coalition-accused-of-race-politics/2007/10/03/1191091193835.html

Where’s the federal ALP on this, though?

We should be asking, â??Why does Andrews discriminate among Middle Easterners on the basis of religion?â??

Before anyone asks that question, I’d be interested in seeing the forms that refugees are required to fill in to support their application for residency in Australia.

Where on the form does an applicant indicate his/her religion?

Schedule 2 of the HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION ACT 1986 states:

Article 2

1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Commissioner has the power to prosecute the Commonwealth Government for breaches of this Act.

It is perhaps not illegal for the Commonwealth Government to request information about the religious status of refugees.

However, if a pattern of acceptance and rejection on the basis of religion is discovered, then this is a clear breach of the Act.

“IMMIGRATION Minister Kevin Andrews has inflamed tensions with the African community by releasing a dossier claiming African refugees were involved in gangs, nightclub fights and drinking alcohol in parks at night.

Prime Minister John Howard yesterday said it was “contemptible” to suggest the Government was playing the race card, after this week’s furore over Mr Andrews linking the drastic cut in African refugees to the failure of the Sudanese to integrate.”

While refusing to release the full advice or provide any statistics, Mr Andrews said a summary of the material included:
* list of unsubstantiated allegations …

“The critics who shout racism are bereft of real arguments,” Mr Andrews said. “Australia has the right to ensure those who come here are integrating into a socially cohesive community.”

African think tank chairman Dr Berhan Ahmed said Mr Andrews was “putting fuel on the fire of the race issue” by releasing unsubstantiated claims.

Akoch Manheim, of the Lost Boys Association, an advocacy group for Sudanese youth, said the dossier was misleading. He asked who had advised Mr Andrews in the report. “The minister has a high profile, and what he says, many people who have never been in contact with Sudanese people will think that this is true,” he said.

“For example, he is saying there is a nightclub crisis, but most Sudanese people don’t even go to nightclubs.”

Elhadi Abass, the manager of the Multicultural Sudanese Centre in Flemington, said the so-called African gangs were simply groups who stood out because they were black and tall.

“There are no gangs; it is the Sudanese culture to walk together as a group.”

Somewhat shorter Andrews:

“I am using my position as a minister to spread unsubstantiated allegations which I will not provide any evidence for to target a section of Australia’s immigrant intake based on their race and colour. We have the right to choose who comes to Australia. I am single handedly rewriting the rules on determining who should immigrate based on my personally selected new criteria of perceptions about their ability to integrate. I am also ignoring evidence contrary to my opinions provided by people like the Chief Commissioner of Policy in Victoria because I know better.

Resign you tosser, you are a disgrace and an embarrassment to Australia.

Abeselom Nega from the Federation of African Communities Council says the group’s lawyers are lodging a complaint of racial discrimination with the Human Rights Commissioner. You would have to think that the case is quite strong. Especially as mentioned earlier , the commissioner was quoted as being “troubled”, by Mr Andrews comments and actions.