So Howard "stopped the boats"?
According to Alexander Downer on Radio National on November 9th 2009 the boats STILL CAME but the Navy just towed the boats back into Indonesian waters and left them there. "And this worked very effectively, but we did this without any publicity, we didn’t run around boasting that we were doing this because we knew the Indonesian accepted these people back through gritted teeth."

As for the TPVs,these were introduced in October 1999. There were 3722 irregular maritime arrivals that year. During the next two years there were 8459 irregular maritime arrivals, including 5520 arrivals in 2001 alone.

By the time TPVs were abolished , nearly 90 percent of people initially granted a TPV had been granted a Permanent Protection visa or another visa to remain in Australia.

More than 11,000 people were granted TPVs. Of these, 9841 had already been granted a Permanent Protection visa (9690) or another visa (151) as at 8 August 2008. Only 379 people, or about 3 per cent of those granted a TPV, had departed Australia.

Not exactly effective.

Another consequence was that they led to more women and children risking a sea voyage because the TPV conditions prevented the chance of family reunions.

Terms like "racial catastrophe" are just more of the same alarmist scaremongering. I suggest that there are more important issues to be concerned about.

Quite aside from the arguments around a good vs bad Christian; a religious as opposed to athiest or agnostic take on refugees, and all that in-between, the issue surely is the politicisation of the issue of asylum seekers (by boat, by air). Rudd in 2007 promised to "tow the boats back". His left-leaning, compassionate minister for immigration (Chris Evans) has no such stomach for such rot (and neither it seems does the Rudd Cabinet either).

The Coalition solution is no solution. Whether it's the boringly repetitive Scott Morrison or Michael Keenan, the Coalition has absolutely no solution.

This is not an exclusively Australian-centric problem; this is a global issue boys and girls. It's why a regional solution is what we need, and why attempts to bring regional partners into the tent is going to be one of the sure-fire ways of securing a reduction, though never a halt, to the refugee flow. Peace in our time in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and political stability in Iran and Iraq is a good start.

For what it's worth, an issue which involves a mere 2000-3000 people a year, and for which the government has allocated almost 14 000 places (under the refugee and humanitarian program) anyway, is not deserving of the crass politics we're witnessing. I fear what the actual election campaign will bring forth.

Dear Grim,
Jesus came to save not condemn. When we accept Gods grace we are no longer under the penalty of the law but under Christ. Set free "go and sin no more". I say again, break the law and you are subject to the law.

Leigh you say 'The rise (there has been no fall since Rudd's election) does not show any correlation between the huge increase in illegals turning up here and any world situation'. So if most of the people arriving on boats are from Afghanistan and around the world applications from Afghans rose by 45%, how do you explain that we only received a rise of 29% in our applications when afghans are mostly the ones coming on our boats? I think we are below the world average in that case, wouldn't you agree? Only an extra 136 people applied from Sri Lanka in 2009 compared to 2008 - it was the Afghans applications that pushed the percentage up and they are biggest group of asylum applicants in the world now. The Taliban were removed from power in December 2001, millions of Afghans returned - any connection to the boats stopping then? The Taliban have re-emerged - any connection to the boats coming now? We do not have 'huge' numbers of anyone coming here - the 29% increase represents only a thousand or or so extra people....

and Leigh I don't remember Howard's party complaining much when the failed Pacific solution and TPVs were abolished - everyone knew the policies stank and caused shocking damage to people. Rudd has been tougher with people smugglers and stepped up disruption activities in Indonesia and other countries

What if it's simply a bad law, Richie10? should we still be stoning to death adulterous women? Burning witches?