News Poll: Should HIV-positive migrants be allowed into Australia?

[kylierose]

I clicked on this tonight.

Here are the results:
http://www.brisbears.org.au/main/images/news-poll.png

Shows the general public sentiment towards Howard's comments.
And what we have to look forward to after decades of public education programs.

[jackie87]

Shows its from News Limited, the SMH poll was like 53% in favour, 47% opposed

[kylierose]

true, very true
but a significant cross section none the less
...

[hazyinseptember]

77% of australians are racists... so why not prejudiced as well?

[ap_bcd]

This is typical John Howard. He always manages to find somethign (in this case the actions of 2 men) and make a generalisation out of it which he then uses to pull at the voters, Sweetly distracting everyone from the real issues facing most australians, The Drought, The Price of Petrol, and getting out of the Bush's War in the Middle East. Especially bad is that his opinion is based on the 'cost' of a HIV infected person with no regard to anythign else.

[alison87]

Actually i can see his reasoning here. People with any form of chronic illness are going to be spending a lot of time using the healthcare system. Allowing people into the country who are more likely to drain government funds than contribute to them is not a good idea if you want to keep the economy stable, or if you want to keep healthcare affordable for all the other people in the country.

That said, i've always been of the opinion that borders should be opened completely. I remember how humiliating it was when i moved here 10 years ago and had to undergo the complete physical - drugs, HIV, other diseases, fitness, marital status etc. I don't think Howard is really suggesting much different to the status quo. Immigration fucking sucks already.

[genkij]

Hands up who thinks John Howard is an ignorant CUNT ??

Fuck grow a fucking soul ......

[kylierose]

i only put my hands up for detroit

[ap_bcd]

Hands up who thinks John Howard is an ignorant CUNT ??

Fuck grow a fucking soul ......


Really Genkij, you are being a bit harsh here I don't think he is ignorant, he knows exactly what he is doing, otherwise I agree.....

[Brett Hayhoe]

The fact is that PLWHA are not currently allowed to immigrate to Australia - except for extreme compassionate grounds e.g. partners of Australians [and even this is a long, often expensive, procedure].

The Right Honourable Prime Minister should not have made the comments he did as he was obviously not aware of all the facts surrounding the current immigration laws [I realise that he can not be expected to know everything about everything, however he should have simply said he didn't know and would find out and get back to Neil Mitchell - where this originated from]. It was also irresponsible to compare HIV to TB - the latter of which is contagious, HIV is blood borne.

If the Government is suggesting closing the doors completely to visitors who are HIV+, this has already been the case in the USA [since 1987] with over 1 Million people living in that country with AIDS to spite that policy. Shutting the doors in this fashion does not stop the spread of the virus.

Victoria's Health Minister was also quoted as saying that banning PLWHA entering the country would significantly reduce the figures in this State [I paraphrased of course]. The fact is, out of the total number of presentations in 2006 represented approximately 70 people coming from elsewhere to Victoria [and subsequently presenting to a Doctor and hence being added to the stats]. These people, with very little exception, moved to Victoria from interstate NOT another continent.

If the Government is so concerned with the rises in HIV in this country then they should "put our money where their mouthes are" and release funds to agencies most equipped to produce education and prevention campaigns to combat the situation.

Irresponsible grand standing in its absolute form - possibly designed to engender fear into middle Australia for political reasons. It is also important to understand that their conversation should be about stopping HIV entering the country NOT people living with the virus - this is victimisation in the highest order!

[kylierose]

it's funny how the government can go on an on about banning hate-related material that could lead to terrorist activities, yet they are some of the biggest proponents of hate-related material that could lead to more victimisation of groups of people who are already marginalised and vulnerable and in need of support and assistance.

does anyone else see this as a grotesque double-standard? or have i just missed the point altogether?
...

[alison87]

Fuck you lot are a bunch of kneejerk Howard bashers. This has got nothing to do with "victimization" or "hate-related materials". It's just common sense. This is about not allowing people into the country who are going to place an excessive strain on an already strained public healthcare system. Assuming you agree with laws restricting migration in general, disallowing entry on the basis of chronic illness is probably one of the most justifiable reasons to block migrants.

[kylierose]

aw pity me, the bleeding heart leftie!
---
it depends on which grounds for restricting immigration you are talking about.
HIV is not avian influenza

[jackie87]

Fuck you lot are a bunch of kneejerk Howard bashers. This has got nothing to do with "victimization" or "hate-related materials". It's just common sense. This is about not allowing people into the country who are going to place an excessive strain on an already strained public healthcare system. Assuming you agree with laws restricting migration in general, disallowing entry on the basis of chronic illness is probably one of the most justifiable reasons to block migrants.

Well he seems to be doing most of the knee jerking once he was asked about this + obama and other issues, especially in 1988 when he said there were too many Asians coming to the country while he was Opposition Leader.

[ap_bcd]

Fuck you lot are a bunch of kneejerk Howard bashers. This has got nothing to do with "victimization" or "hate-related materials". It's just common sense. This is about not allowing people into the country who are going to place an excessive strain on an already strained public healthcare system. Assuming you agree with laws restricting migration in general, disallowing entry on the basis of chronic illness is probably one of the most justifiable reasons to block migrants.

Sorry Alison, more money is spent in out health care system treating the Long Term and PREVENTABLE effects of Smoking and Drinking than any other single disease. Perhaps if money is all we shold make our decisions about for the health care system we should ban smokers and drinkers from entering our country.

This would see many more Tax Dollars returned to us.

but then Tobacco and alcohol are socially approved where as HIV is still (unfortunately) a stigmatised disease.

I still think howard is a jerk who is warming up to yet again sideline the Australian community from real issues come the next election, it might not be HIV but it will be somethign involving a minority group to make mainstream Australia feel better in their prejudices. Remember children overboard???