You can tell when he's being economical with the truth - his lips move

Just as Kevin Rudd denies that there are any problems with the climate models relied on by the IPCC, and just as he denies that there is any debate to be had on climate change, he also denies that the special deal offered to the Sri Lankans aboard the Oceanic Viking is a special deal at all. The Opposition can see it’s a special deal. The Sri Lankans themselves can see it’s a special deal, because why else would they have left the customs vessel at all? Anyone with half a brain in his head can see it’s a special deal. But not Rudd or his government, who continue to swear blind that black is white. Andrew Bolt does the demolition better than I can:

No special deal? Here’s the offer that the Tamils actually received:

“1. If UNHCR has found you to be a refugee – Australian officials will assist you to be resettled within four to six weeks from the time you disembark the vessel.”

The rest of the Tamils were promised help to get processed as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with the lucky ones “resettled within 12 weeks”. Probably here.

And there were promises of English classes, daily help, contact with families back home, and more.

This was a deal so special that Rudd refused in Parliament to offer it to the other 2000 UNHCR-approved refugees in Indonesia also waiting to get here, or to the many thousands more boat people yet to be assessed there.

It was so special that Indonesian officials say they must separate the Oceanic Viking asylum seekers from other boat people in detention in case they’re attacked out of jealousy.

Let me explain how special this deal was. Australian lawyer Jessie Taylor, who has visited 11 Indonesian detention centres, reports “it is not uncommon for people to wait 24 to 36 months between their initial registration and their refugee status determination”.

What’s more, “positive findings of refugee status are meaningless in the current context, as there is no prospect of third country resettlement”.

So contrast. Rudd promised to resettle the UNHCR-approved refugees on the Oceanic Viking within just six weeks – and almost certainly in Australia.

If they were in Indonesia, they might wait for years. Indeed, some have waited so long there already that they’ve married Indonesians.

For the others, Rudd offered assessment and resettlement in just 12 weeks, when boat people in Indonesia can wait three years just to have their UNHCR claims finalised.

The moral of all this: you can’t trust Rudd to tell the truth on anything, and that includes climate change.

Read it here.