2006年VOA标准英语-Australia's Howard Forced to Scrap Controversia

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
14 August 2006

Australian Prime Minister John Howard

Australia's conservative government has withdrawn¹ a controversial asylum² bill before the Senate looked ready to defeat it. Prime Minister John Howard, whose 10 years in office have been partially³ defined by refugee issues, acknowledged defections in his own party forced him to abandon the proposed law. 

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Australian Prime Minister John Howard Monday pulled his proposed tougher asylum bill because it was heading for an embarrassing defeat in the Senate.

The bill aimed to cut down on illegal immigration by broadening current laws. It would have required all asylum seekers, arriving in Australia by boat, to be sent to government-run detention⁴ centers on nearby Pacific island nations while their claims were processed.

Mr. Howard acknowledged defections in his own conservative party negated⁵ his slim majority in the Senate. Despite the backlash, Mr. Howard says he believes most Australians support the legislation.

"Nothing unusual about people occasionally having a different view from the majority. But it is a majority view, a strongly held majority view, and I would naturally ask that that be taken into account," he said.

Critics say the bill would have made it much tougher for genuine refugees to be able to settle in Australia. And it would have subjected possible refugees to lengthy⁶ stays in camps, which could be traumatizing.

Senator Steve Fielding, from the minority Family First Party, says he would have voted against the bill, as existing asylum measures are adequate.

"Most Australian will realize, well, there are rules and it would be absolute chaos⁷ if every other country did what Australia is proposing," he noted⁸. "It's ludicrous!"

The Howard government proposed the new asylum law, passed by the lower house last week, after a diplomatic dispute earlier this year with Indonesia. Jakarta withdrew its ambassador to Australia in protest after it gave temporary asylum to 42 separatists from Indonesia's Papua province.

Mr. Howard Monday said he did not know if Indonesia would be unhappy that the legislation has been dropped, but he said it was not his main concern.

The Howard government argues the bill was designed to strengthen border security and would have made asylum seekers think twice before making the hazardous⁹ journey into Australian waters.

Australia accepts more than 12,000 legal asylum seekers every year.

1 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

2 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

3 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

4 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

5 negated   

v.取消( negate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；否定；否认

参考例句：

• Our historical right to rule ourselves as a people had been negated. 我们被剥夺了作为一个民族治理自己国家的历史权利。 来自辞典例句
• Thus far we have negated frictional effects in the harmonic oscillator. 到现在为止，我们一直没有考虑谐和振荡器中的摩擦效应。 来自辞典例句

6 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。