Barnaby Joyce Blames Refugees For The Banning Of Live Exports To Indonesia

Refugees and secure borders are yet again at the forefront of the Australian political debate.

Last election we were bombarded with the three-word slogan “Stop The Boats.” Unfortunately, this is not the end of the Coalitions attacks on asylum seekers.

This campaign, we have heard Immigration Minister Peter Dutton call refugee’s illiterate and innumerate not only in English but also in their own languages.

Now, the assault on refugees continues as Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the National Party Barnaby Joyce links the rise in refugees arriving by boats to banning live exports to Indonesia. During a debate earlier this week, Joyce said:

“I remind you that when we closed down the live animal export industry, it was around about the same time that we started seeing a lot of people arriving in boats in Australia.”

As a relief, this was met with sounds of laughter and disbelief from the audience. You can watch the full encounter below:

Yup, our Deputy PM and Leader of the Australian National Party linked offshore animal cruelty to a rise in refugees arriving by boats in Australia. How this link was processed through his ”inbred with a tomato’ head (Johnny Depp’s words, not mine), is completely beyond us.

A headshot of Barnaby Joyce via Getty Images.

According to Joyce, Australia “created extreme bad will” between ourselves and the Indonesian Government when we stopped live animal exports to the South Asian nation. This prompted Senator and Leader of the Greens Party Richard Di Natale to respond:

“I’m not seeing the link… Are you suggesting the Indonesian Government is sending refugees here?”

You can watch the entertaining counter below: