Australian Prime Minister heavily criticised for wanting to discontinue immigration of HIV positive people into Australia

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum members,

The Australian AIDS Fund Incorporated...a Catholic AIDS-care agency of some 20

years standing ..advises that it issued the following release to the Australian

media on Friday, April 13th., 2007

The Australian AIDS Fund, a Melbourne-based Catholic AIDS-care agency, has

slammed the Prime Minister, Mr , for his statements saying HIV positive

people should be denied entry to Australia as migrants or refugees.

The agency said Mr had now effectively stigmatised everyone who has

HIV/AIDS, as people to be shunned and shut out of Australian society.

The agency's president, Haill, said Australia had 'til now offered a

compassionate face to the world's people living with HIV/AIDS, especially those

with family or relatives in Australia, but the Prime Minister had now ground

that attitude underfoot.

" It was a needless knee-jerk reaction to the revelation that new n

health department fuigures had shown the number of HIV-positive people moving to

had quadrupled in the past two years, from 16 to 70.

" Such reports " , Mr Haill said, " ran the real risk of further inflaming

attitudes to foreign migrants, especially those unfortunate enough to be

infected by HIV. "

" HIV-stigma does more to spread the message of ignorance and fear about

HIV/AIDS than anything else " Haill said.

" We'd be particularly interested in a breakdown of the figures that have been

quoted. How many have indeed actually been fellow Australians, moving into

from various parts of Australia? And even then what's do the Prime

Minister and the n Health Minister propose? Do they want them especially

singled out,publicly identified? "

" We note that Health Minister Pike is calling for 'a national approach to the

issue' suggesting an overhaul of health checks for immigrants on the basis that

perhaps border controls are inadequate " Haill said.

" Health Minister Pike is clearly fingering overseas migrants, who are assessed

by the federal immigration department on an individual, case-by-case basis, also

generally on commendably humanitarian groundsShe's quite forgotten the stream

of migrants actively seeks every year from fellow Australian States.

" Bronwyn Pike needs to confront the home-grown HIV infection rates in

which have leapt over 20% in the past year through her own Ministry's

ineffectual responses. Most recently, her Department of Human Services was

caught flat-footed from the top down over its scandalous regard to HIV risk

guidelines which have led to charges of multiple and deliberate HIV infection. "

" Another worrying anxiety is that gay activists employed within the health

bureaucracies can be calling the shots behind the scenes, dictating policy " .

" We support early police intervention in HIV risk scenarios which have now been

revealed in three States, , South Australia and Western Australia,

rather than an action of last resort. In this case we support the stance of the

AMA. "

**Additional note: It has since emerged that of the 334 new cases of HIV

diagnosed in the State of last year, 70 were diagnosed interstate or

overseas.....and, crucially, 50 of those involved people came from other

Australian States while only 20 were from overseas.Of this 20, eleven were

reported to have een born in Australia or New Zealand which gave them automatic

right of entry to Australia.

Haill

President,

The Australian AIDS Fund Inc.,

Melbourne,Australia

Email: bhaill@...

Website: www.aids.net.au