“The newly announced Coalition’s proposal to never allow over thirty thousand stranded asylum seekers settle in Australia, plumbs new depths of cruelty. It is a policy that will cause severe psychological harm. It extinguishes all hope and re-traumatises people who have already been traumatised many times over – in the repression they suffered in their previous homelands, their perilous escapes, and their impoverished limbo status in Australia.”

A reluctance to acknowledge the existence of racial profiling and a misunderstanding of how racism can be part of police practice underscores the need for better education in the Victoria Police, Liberty Victoria said today.

This follows a call by the Law Institute of Victoria for police to be required to have written consent before stopping and searching people deemed to be suspicious.

Both Liberty’s statement and the lawyers’ comments were in submissions to an inquiry after complaints by men with an African background in the Flemington area.

Liberty Victoria raises serious concerns about the human rights implications of Australia's new asylum seeker policy.

President Jane Dixon SC said today: "Liberty is very concerned about how this policy will play out in practical terms.  Australia seems to be outsourcing its obligations to a developing country known for its fragile economy and infrastructure shortcomings.

“We run the risk of promoting an `out of sight, out of mind’ attitude towards vulnerable refugees,” she said.