Terror threat justifies immigration crackdown - Howard

Terrorists could sneak into Australia among boatloads of asylum seekers, prime minister John Howard hinted today, as both the government and the opposition faced growing criticism over their harsh stance on refugees.

In an interview with Brisbane’s Courier Mail newspaper, Howard argued that his government’s new policy of refusing entry to asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat was justified in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

‘‘You don’t know who’s coming and you don’t know whether they do have terrorist links or not,’’ Howard said.

Seeking a third term at elections on Saturday, Howard has staked out counter-terrorism and border security as the central issues in the campaign.

Ian Macphee, a former immigration minister from Howard’s Liberal Party, said the prime minister was damaging Australia’s international reputation.

‘‘Howard is a throwback we must throw out,’’ said Macphee.

In August Howard refused entry to 433 mostly Afghan asylum seekers who had been rescued from a sinking Indonesian ferry by a Norwegian cargo ship.

Navy ships now patrol the waters between Australia and Indonesia attempting to turn back all boats carrying asylum seekers.

Those who defy the navy, or whose boats are not seaworthy, are picked up and shipped to detention camps built by Australia on the Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru, both impoverished countries and major recipients of Australian aid.

The actions boosted the government’s standing in opinion polls to an election-winning lead.

Apparently fearing a voter backlash, the opposition Labour Party backed the policy.

With Howard and Labour leader Kim Beazley each attempting to show voters they are tougher than the other on asylum policy, a host of respected former public servants and leaders from across the political spectrum have begun to criticise the policy.

Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser has condemned the policies, while John Hewson, leader of the Liberal Party in the early 1990s said a government win at the election would be ‘‘a victory of prejudice over policy’’.

A former head of the Department of Immigration, John Menadue, today accused Howard of cowardice.

‘‘This is not strong leadership, to attack vulnerable, outcast, weak people, it is cowardice. It is not courage and it is not strong leadership,’’ he said.

Today a former Labour government minister, Margaret Reynolds, scolded Howard and Beazley, saying Australia risked becoming a pariah because both sides of politics ‘‘were locked into this extreme macho position’’.

And in a letter to Melbourne’s respected broadsheet, The Age, navy psychiatrist Duncan Wallace claimed navy officers and sailors were distraught at being ordered to turn away asylum seekers.