MP denies he’s a rebel

By Paul Dunlop
LIBERAL MP Russell Broadbent was at the centre of a political maelstrom, opposing Prime Minister John Howard on tough new immigration laws.
Mr Broadbent, the Federal Member for McMillan, played a key role in a stand against the border protection legislation that eventually led to Mr Howard withdrawing the bill on Monday.
The Prime Minister withdrew the bill after it became clear it would not be supported in the Senate.
Mr Broadbent and two other backbenchers last week crossed the floor to vote with Labor and oppose his government’s plan for all unauthorised boat arrivals to be processed on Nauru.
The move kickstarted a week of debate over the controversial new laws and set Mr Broadbent and other Liberal MPs against their party leaders.
Mr Broadbent told the Gazette he did not consider himself a rebel, but said he had to follow his conscience.
The Pakenhambased MP has taken a firm stance against the asylum laws since his election in October 2004.
Mr Broadbent acknowledged his stance may hurt his political career but stood defiant, echoing the words of Mexican reformer and revolutionary Emiliano Zapata “if I am to die politically… it is better to die on my feet than live on my knees,” he said.
“The path I take I did not choose. This path chose me.”
Mr Broadbent said it was the first – and, he hoped, the last – time he would stand against his own government.
“The decision I have taken to oppose this legislation … is made because it is in the longterm national interest of this great south land to continue to be a compassionate protector of the rights of refugees,” he said.
Mr Broadbent was applauded by Opposition MPs for his stance.
He said he recently received a letter from McMillan constituent Di Potter who expressed anguish at the stance taken by the Prime Minister and his government.
“This bill excises the whole of Australia from the migration zone,” Mr Broadbent said.
“In doing so it also excises the safeguards and rule of law our judicial system provides under our statutes and regulations.”
The McMillan MP also quoted black civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King, declaring the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stood in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stood at times of challenge and controversy.
Mr Howard last week said the plan to process on Nauru all asylum seekers who reach the mainland by boat had the support of the “overwhelming majority of the Australian people”.
Mr Broadbent said the Australia he knew was a place where dreams came true, where people could find a sense of belonging and was a place of hope for generations of new immigrants.
“We are suffering a drought in this nation and it is my fervent prayer that the rains would fall to fill our rivers and streams, our lakes and our dams, so that each raindrop would form a mighty flood that is so full of compassion and justice that it would not only soften the parched earth but also soften the nation’s heart,” he said.