Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Australian lawyer wrong about the high cost of 'treating asylum seekers badly'

An Australian legal eagle – you know, rigorously trained to assiduously check facts before making an argument – confidently asserts that Australia in 2009 spent AU$12.5 million (US$10.5 million) deporting "asylum seekers". Had our highly trained university graduate read to the end of the article he links to he would have discovered that in 2009 only 13 of 2,433 deportees were failed asylum seekers, the estimated cost of these 13 deportations amounting to AU$67,015 (less than US$56,750 at the current exchange rate).


The conclusion to the lawyer's post somewhat ironically referring to Tony Abbott's "lies". Oops!


This follows on from an earlier bogus claim that asylum seekers were being detained in in the Australia's desert. Oops, again!


Update: Our Australian lawyer friend updates his post blaming crafty News Ltd journalists for deceiving him:



Ah, you’ve got to be careful when believing anything News Ltd tells you. The story was clearly portrayed as being about asylum seekers costing more than $12.5 million in the last year...



This from a lawyer and Crikey "journalist" who simply didn't read to the end of the story, instead relying on a photo caption stating:



Australian taxpayers have been hit with a $12.5 million bill to deport asylum seekers.



Not everyone is intellectually equipped for a career before the bar.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

As per usual, it's not that highly trained legal eagle's fault he got it wrong, but those crafty journos at News Ltd who spun such a deceptive web to entrap him. He writes:

"UPDATE: Ah, you’ve got to be careful when believing anything News Ltd tells you. The story was clearly portrayed as being about asylum seekers costing more than $12.5 million in the last year. However, I shouldn’t have believed it. The notes at the very end contradict the opening..."

His "corrections" (if you can call this mealy-mouthed weasling a "correction") are far more entertaining than the original posts on his blogs.

5:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Indeed they are Anonymous.

His inability to think before he posts is a most fascinating trait.

5:22 PM  

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