More hasty exits please.

I have refrained from commenting on the Dr. Mohamed Haneef case until now despite the bumbling efforts of the AFP and DPP because if the anti-terror laws are to work then a degree of trust in the integrity of the government and government agencies is required. To this end I was prepared to give the maximum possible time for a legitimate case against him to be put together.

Now, however, it is obvious to all that not only is Dr. Haneef almost certainly innocent but that our governemnt was intent on using his predicament to gain the maximum political advantage for itself in the run-up to the election.

Selective leaks and total red herrings were the order of the day from the AFP, DPP and government Ministers. Anything to paint Dr. Haneef as a danger to us all.

But that's not the reason I am moved to write this now. I do so because I have just heard the news that Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews has described Dr. Haneef's hasty departure from Australia upon his release from detention as "suspicious". How tacky; how petty; how totally un-Australian is that?

Did it not occur to the Minister that perhaps Dr. Haneef was just a little keen to see his newborn child for the first time. He was afterall originally arrested at the airport attempting to go home some four weeks ago when he learnt of his newborn daughters illness.

Perhaps then (and now) he thought, as a father, he wanted to be there; perhaps, as a doctor, he thought he could help. Alternatively, like those other monsters who threw their Children Overboard he had an ulterior motive. Which would be more likely?

Increasingly I find that this Federal government, in particular the troika of Howard, Ruddock and Andrews, does not reflect my values or morality. I do not find them ethical role models.

If the Immigration Minister were to declare the three of them 'non-Australians' and deport themselves asap I hereby promise not to call their departure "suspicious".