Rudd’s Refugee-Policy Shift Fails to Woo Australian Voters
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Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s efforts to ease voter concern at a jump in asylum seekers under the governing Labor party has failed to help overcome a deficit with the opposition ahead of a Sept. 7 election.
Rudd’s administration today got a chance to highlight its stepped-up attempts to cut the arrival of boats carrying would-be immigrants. Thirteen countries agreed at a meeting in Jakarta to review visa policies to stem the smuggling of people from countries including Iran, a practice that’s led to the deaths of at least 800 people trying to enter Australia since October 2009.