Labor's memorial to death

Christmas Islanders will today unveil the Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard memorial to dead asylum seekers. Residents of the extraordinary little island to the north-west of Australia will be asked to remember the more than 50 dead who died a year ago when their people smuggler boat lost power and crashed into the unyielding craggy cliffs which rim most of the exotic islet.

Many islanders were traumatised by the events that unfolded in the early hours of December 15, 2010. Some heard the cries for help from the wounded boat as it drifted relentlessly toward its doom, others had lined the cliff tops and watched men, women and children drown in the treacherous surge as their vessel broke up. Many will not attend today’s ceremony because their memories of the horror are still too fresh in their minds. A handful of survivors who were able to clutch the life jackets thrown into the boiling surf will also trek back to today’s ceremony to thank their rescuers. Forty-two were saved, 35 have been granted permanent residency. The people they bumped on the UN's lists of refugees are still waiting to come here. Rudd and Gillard should have been made to attend to look into the faces of those who lost their families and into the faces of the shattered islanders who cannot forget the tragedy and will not be able to erase the scenes of horror from their minds as long as they live. Rudd and Gillard were responsible for weakening the strong and compassionate border control policy that was brought in under John Howard’s government. Whatever its shrill critics might screech, Howard and his Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock stopped the boats. By stopping the boats they stopped the deaths. Rudd and Gillard ensured that the illegal people smuggling business would reopen and that deaths would occur. They were warned that deaths would occur before they started tinkering with the successful Howard policy but they continued with their lethal meddling undeterred. Like so many of their policies, it was known to hold dangers. Since becoming Prime Minister, Gillard has launched three policies, the East Timor Solution, the Malaysian Solution and the current abortion of a policy under which more than 800 people have in recent weeks risked their lives. There was a simpler way, a safer way, it was the Howard way. Howard lifted the levels of legal migration and ended the lethal people trade. He deserves a memorial to his humanity. Rudd and Gillard have their own memorial of utter shame.