Excellent article. The history of past Prime Ministers makes on wonder how collectively they contributed anything that had made life better today. But thats the past. What does the future hold, more lies more promises from politicians who at best can be regarded as very ordinary people. The electorate is a dartboard from the bulls eye to the outer rim and the electorate is divided into those segments. Load the darts with promises and future benefits and make sure the darts hit home in the right place where your voters are. When you win just pack up the board and the darts for anorther four years and do what you like, it doesnt have to be what you said or what you promised the electorate is all forgiving

For the future well lets face it, we have asylum seekers/refugees and there will always be that traffic in one form or another. How can you stop thinking people that want a better life and conditions from attempting to come here or anywhere come to that, we arent the only country they try to get to but wherever they go they are disliked by the country they arrive at and disliked for coming but they are willing to accept that just to get away from their country of origin. Governments of the past and present have failed to stop the boats coming but Abbott knows how and the Australian Party idiot Gater wants to use missiles on them. But lets just think of the discussions on how to stop humans piting their brains to get from one country to another in unsafe vessels for a better life and achieving to navigate a course to get here now recently undetected, all the brain power that has gone into stopping this trade and failing and wasting money with border patrols and processing etc when will they wake up and admit failure.
After all they cant stop a cane toad from getting from Queensland to West australia so how are they going to stop a family from asia getting here hoping for a better life.

"The State of Australian governance" lays out my memory of Australia's governance over the last sixty years. Many of those memories are not good. But never have I felt as fearful as I do now regarding our future governance.
I take exception to the writer's description of "...the weakest amongst us, the one group requiring our care and compassion-asylum seekers." There are several groups in as great need: our future possibly blind people, the children who now suffer trachoma in remote indigenous communities (Australia is the only developed country where this disease still exists); abused infants and chidren, many of whom cannot be cared for/saved by government agencies; the severely mentally ill, a group where the natural and suicidal death rates increase and life expectancy is now some 56 years.
Here we return to governance. It is reasonable for Australians to expect leaders sound of mind and body. Having recently seen a 'youtube' video, "Tony Abbott grand slam", I ask readers to watch this through to the final scene, which can only be described as harrowing. I speak with a neurological background and see in that scene a person with the horrified gaze of someone who realises he can't contact his brain at that moment. The governance of Australia should be in the hands of a person sound of mind and body. We must not accept another leader unless this is verified.

For other readers interested in refugee policy, may I advise that the organisation Christians for an Ethical Society (CES)
is holding a public forum on the issue next week in Canberra.

Details:

"Ethics and Refugees: a deplorably impoverished and cynical discourse"
Speaker: Professor William Maley AM, Director, Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, ANU
Chair: Rev Monsignor John Woods
When: 7:30pm Thursday, 18 April 2013
Where: Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Corner Blackall St and Kings Av, Barton

Further info on our website http://www.ces.org.au/

Well, the author has managed to scare the heck
out of me. We've had doomsayers before
but what about just once one of them would come
up with offering solutions instead of only
condemnation. Wouldn't that be a novelty?

It seems a long winded way to come to the matter of refugees, which seems the point of the article, visiting varioustruths and half-truths along the way.

Pray tell, what is the author's position on the whole matter, or I'm with Lexi.

The author needs to understand that we generally draw our politicians from this who the corporate world, either overlooked, or rejected.

We are simply getting what we are paying for.

What we need is a tough leader, one who does not get sidetracked by sliding polls.

Name me one highly successful business man/woman that's doesn't kick heads.

Call them bullies if you wish, but they get the job done.

Now as for his stance of illegals, he has to be kidding.

Just how much longer does he think we can go on financially supporting these illegals, while robbing from the mouths of our very own TAX PAYERS.

This peaceful invasion has the potential to bankrupt this nation and what is needed is a big stick and some big balls to wield it.

The do-gooders should contribute to a fund so they can pay for the costs associated with the illegals, meanwhile the rest of us can go about our duty of paying taxes, in an effort to provide the nessecities FOR OUR PEOPLE.