how comfortable they are with young kids in adult prisons in breach of the law.
Marylin,
I can only speak for myself here & I'm as comfortable with this as I am with the children of the australian battlers who have even less of a future than those who come here.
The authorities are blatantly placing them ahead of our own poor including our pensioners.
I agree & support helping the boat children but I draw the line at preferential treatment.

Well the Indonesian fishing crew didn't come here for anything, why do ignorant people have to talk such rot.

And seeking asylum is not a scam, it is a binding legal entitlement that has existed all over the world since time immemorial.

People in trouble are allowed to seek protection and shelter.

And seeking asylum is not a scam, it is a binding legal entitlement that has existed all over the world since time immemorial.
Marylin,
For your info, it is both.

Well the Indonesian fishing crew didn't come here for anything,
Marilyn,
They came here to make some money, money they can't get back home. I have met & spoken with some nalayan (fishermen) & they told me that they don't even own the boats. One has been here 4 times & will come again, purely out of economic necessity. So, to answer your question, they did come here for something, for survival. Do you know how much more drastic the measures are taken by the poor javanese to survive ? Poor because foreign interests are exploiting them to no end.
They're not the smugglers, they only drive the boats. Also, australian Customs officers know what to look for & they do & they can tell the genuine from the non-genuine.

If the fishermen were smuggling drugs they would get 15 years. People trafficking gets 5 years. Both are cases of smuggling which is illegal in Australia.

Both are crimes that need to be punished. QED

I can't see where the problem is?

@Marilyn,

<<In the book the People Smuggler it is shown clearly that there are no smuggling rings>>
Here's news for you Marilyn. Not only are there people smuggling rings, but some of the most successful operators are former "asylum seekers" to OZ.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/exasylum-seekers-turned-to-people-smuggling-court-told-20120328-1vyoe.htm

<<I have always said, because no-one can ever know when people will run and seek protection>>
Maybe so.But given that most are not running from, but rather running to, warmer economic climes.It seems that people smuggling would be one of the few industries where you would be assured of a constant stream flow of new customers. Come to think of it, while the rest of the business world would have faced a slackening off of demand during the worst of the GFC, the people smugglers would have had a boost, with all of South Asia's unemployed rebadging themselves as "asylum seekers" to OZ!