VOA标准英语2010年-Immigration a Key Concern as Australia

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaks at the Australian Labor¹ Party campaign launch at the Brisbane Convention Centre in Brisbane, Australia, 16 Aug 2010

Australians will choose a new government on August 21, and both major parties promise to reduce immigration and bring in new measures to stop a steady flow of asylum² seekers.

The conservative opposition³ promises a hard line on boats smuggling⁴ asylum seekers into Australia's northern waters.  It plans to either turn the vessels⁵ around and send them back to their departure point or transfer unauthorized arrivals to an offshore⁶ processing camp on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru.

The leader of the opposition Liberal Party, Tony Abbott, accuses Prime Minister Julia Gillard of failing to protect Australia's borders.

"When Julia Gillard was the shadow immigration minister she used to say, by press release, 'another boat, another policy failure,' said Abbott.  "Now she didn't get a chance to say that very often because under the Howard government there were, on average three boats a year, under this government there have been, on average, three boats a week. There have now been 151 policy failures from this government and that's on the logic⁷ of the prime minister herself."

The governing Labor party has outlined plans to handle the problem of illegal asylum seekers by building a refugee transit⁸ center in neighboring East Timor.  The aim is to deter⁹ illegal migrants.

Although the plan met with a lukewarm response from authorities in East Timor, Prime Minister Gillard remains¹⁰ committed to it.

"I do think we should have a regional processing center," said Gillard.  "I do think we should try and take away from people smugglers the very product that they sell so there'd be no point getting on a boat and risking your life paying someone to do that because you would end up in the regional processing center.  That's what I'm aiming for."

Along with the economy, health care and education, immigration has emerged as one of the key issues ahead of Saturday's election.

Australia grants asylum to more than 10,000 refugees a year through international programs.  And it accepts hundreds of thousands of other legal immigrants.  But illegal migrants smuggled¹¹ in by boat, most of them from Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, have many voters worried.

"The boat people, I don't think it's fair that some of our people are stuck in tents, out in caravan¹² parks and these poor people I suppose you would say come in from overseas and they are given homes straight away and all, but the old Aussies seems to be forgotten," said an elderly Australian woman interviewed for this story.

Modern Australia was built on successive waves of European, Middle Eastern and Asian settlers. A quarter of the population was born overseas but there remains a suspicion of asylum seekers, especially those who come in illegally.

John Warhurst, a political scientist at Australian National University in Canberra, says there is a feeling that shadowy foreigners who arrive unannounced by boat could destabilize society.

"It is quite easy to stir the issue of immigration and boatpeople in a way which suggests, well, maybe some terrorists might arrive by boat and it also feeds into the issue of the alleged¹³ impact of immigration generally on questions of employment, on questions of services," said Warhurst.  "It probably feeds into the sense of those in the west of Sydney that issues like transport, housing and employment are all somehow being affected¹⁴ by high levels of immigration and the boatpeople issue."

The conservative opposition says it will cut the number of legal migrants by almost half from the current 300,000 people a year if it wins Saturday's election.

Prime Minister Gillard also has promised to reduce immigration to what she calls more "sustainable" levels.  Both parties understand that many Australians are concerned about what they view as a rapidly growing population, which adds pressure on housing and water supplies, and more congestion¹⁵ on city streets.

Business groups, however, worry that cutting immigrant numbers could deprive Australia of desperately¹⁶ needed skilled workers, which would damage the economy.

James Pearson, the chief executive of the Chamber¹⁷ of Commerce and Industry in Western Australia, urges the major parties to rethink their policies.

"What is important to remember is that Australia is a migrant-based society and with a rate of economic growth in this state at least (that is) the envy of the rest of the developed world, we're one of the few parts of the developed world which really is crying out for new, skilled workers," said Pearson.  "We are actively¹⁸ recruiting.  We've got our 'Australia is open for business' sign there.  The only thing we need to do now is convince our federal political leaders that this country needs a strong immigration program, not cutting back."

Both the Labor government and the opposition say that reduced immigration will not damage the economy.

Prime Minister Gillard and her rival, Tony Abbott, are immigrants and were born in the United Kingdom.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

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 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

7 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

8 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

9 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

12 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

13 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

16 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

17 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

18 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。