...The sneaky trick is classifying a jail as a detention centre. I am surprised this point has not been the focus of attack by activists opposing the policies of detention.

...What has been demonstrated by resulting events in the latest riots is that methods of riot control used are indifferent, leading one correctly to the conclusion that the classification of holding centres are for official convenience only.

...I believe the detention centres should be more accurately described as prisons, and therefore the class of inmate therefore should be better clarified. For example, to hold children in jail conditions is totally unacceptable, and is the immediate issue to be dealt with

95% of boat arrivals succeed in getting visas compared to less than 50% for plane arrivals. This is testament to the efficacy of arrival with no documentation in a system where the state has to prove that the arrivals' story is a fabrication.

The investment of $15000 in a boat trip compared to $1000 on a plane where documentation is required guarantees entrance.

The TPV or temporary protection visa which prevents them importing their families should be the best that they can get.

This rat cage is entirely the fabrication of the failed Labor immigration policy, and the deaths are on Juliar's head.

Bruce
The shock jocks are all about bringing in advertising dollars - that is what some of mainstream journalism has become.

I have no idea what the conditions are like, do they differ much from jails?

I imagine they must or we would be seeing prisoners rioting on a regular basis. Maybe the answer lies more in the quality and size of accommodation if we are to remain with detention as the only option.

ASIO might be well resourced but given the number of applications has grown, are those resources being utilised in the assessments area? Having worked in government I doubt very much the money is allocated to the worker bee end.

There has to be a better way to perform clearances but I cannot imagine what how it could be done any faster. What is the solution?

It is difficult when there is inadequate identification papers but if the refugee has been resident in another country prior to seeking asylum in Australia (like Indonesia) there may be some existing paperwork but not necessarily given much work is probably done under the radar.

It is a travesty that governments ever allowed children in detention. Perhaps there is a case to trial a community arrangement. That is, asylum seekers living in refugee accommodation within communities conditional on reporting (similar to parole obligations) until assessments were completed. If the applicant fails to report on a regular basis or disappears then the application is withdrawn.

This would have to be associated with additional future costs for law enforcement and housing including extra resourcing depending on how the plan works.

It will also be difficult politically when there are many homeless already in this country and where the waiting lists for government housing are long including for disability applicants.

Clarification;

...I believe Government honesty will assist greatly if detention centres are reclassified as prisons: Reclassification will allow the Government to legitimately separate women and young children from their male family members, allowing the desired incarceration process to continue “acceptably” as a much more useful tool of deterrent to illegal immigrants.

...The reclassification will allow the legitimate use of the full range of riot protocols and tools to quell unrest, as under Australia wide norms for prison control, which our communities currently accept, and will re-establish the Government onto the moral high ground, which it loses with the family “conglomerate” approach of current detention centres

Bruce and any others,

I would be interested in receiving a comment on a speech made at a public meeting in 1907 by Sir Edmund Barton, a man with a big reputation in this country, both as a Judge and as our first Prime Minister, (somewhat different in quality to the feckless Ms Gillard), and who was not compromised in his allegiances. Australia was first, always.
A man whose actions and character can be admired and respected, rightfully so.

Somewhat different to our current batch of political opportunists of general poor quality, both parties equally as bad. How did we reach this stage? Is it the general apathy of Australians to anything other than the pleasures of sport and wealth creation? You get the government you vote for is the old axiom. How sad it is that we have to endure a further period of this government, followed by the next, which, based on history, will be just as incompetent.

Back to Edmund Barton......

‘In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an Australian and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an Australian, and nothing but an Australian.. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an Australian, but something else also, isn't an Australian at all. We have room for but one flag, the Australian flag.... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the Australian people.'

How do his comments rate with the people of this country in 2011?

We would do our country a great disservice not to be guided by the difficulties being experienced in other parts of the world right now and to ensure that the same mistakes are avoided here.

One of the biggest concerns by the Australian public is the potential number of criminals and thugs who are amongst the refugees.

One sure way to sort out the good from the bad is to enforce a strict regime of deportation of the criminal element. One strike and you're out, no exceptions.

I would expect that the crime rate amongst these ethnic minorities would dramatically drop if such a system were enforced.

I was aware of a case of some non citizens from New Zealand had lengthly criminal records and yet they still had not been deported. The state police and the federal authorities must learn to communicate effectively and act on information.