Having already fully endorsed the controversial medivac proposals in the Senate, Bill Shorten now appears to be all over the place (“Shorten in backdown on borders”, 12/2).
Meanwhile, in some obscene comparison, the paediatric representative for the Australian Medical Association, Paul Bauert, has publicly claimed that even the Holocaust victims at Auschwitz were better off than those refugees languishing on Manus and Nauru because at least “they knew their fate” (“Doctor apologises for Auschwitz comparison”, 12/2).
Apart from this morally indefensible link to one of history’s most horrific and programmed genocides, no real regret has been forthcoming from the AMA.
And after so much advice relating to the repercussions of legislating for the weakening of our strong border controls, would Labor still push ahead with another potential “deaths at sea” scenario? Our nation watched in horror and disbelief as more than 1200 men, women and children drowned before our very eyes.
We await your decision, Opposition Leader.
Lyle Geyer, Essendon, Vic
No, Paul Bauert, no Jew “at least found some sense of relief” in knowing that he or she was about to be gassed to death. First, there was no foreknowledge of one’s fate and further, as Viktor Frankl makes clear, people value life over death. When did it become acceptable to equate all and every human rights issue with government-planned and implemented murder of millions of its citizens?
Any pretension Bauert may have had to being either a proponent for human rights or a historian he has well and truly trashed in his comments, despite his subsequent apology. His statements can no longer be regarded as having any credibility.
Nina Bassat, Brighton, Vic
Paul Bauert may be an excellent doctor but his knowledge of Auschwitz is way off . The Jews went to their deaths believing they were going into a shower to be deloused. They were unaware of what was going to happen until the poison pellets were dropped down shafts and the gas began its deadly work. The ALP wants to put our refugee intake into the hands of these doctors. What a sick joke.
Gary Fletcher, Bundaberg, Qld
These letters appeared in The Australian 13/2/19.