Alan, you are of course ignoring the central argument, raised by the recent report that everyone is focussing on. Why should boat people be treated better and have preferance over people in refugee camps?

The Australian economy is doing well right now, but things are far
from certain. We have a mining boom which is not far from crashing.
The merino sheep collapsed long ago. Just watch what happens when mineral prices start to crash, they are trending down right now and projects are being cancelled. Go and ask Spain, Italy, Greece etc,
if the flood of migrants from Africa is a problem. Why should we be so silly as to copy them?

Australia took its share of Vietnamese. Its now taking its share from Islamic countries. But given that some posters think that we should be taking millions, I think its all feelgood and they really have not thought things through. Given that we give refugees a life of relative
luxury, each one of them demands huge investment in infrastructure,
hospitals, schools, power and all the rest. As it is, the city of Perth for instance, relies on desalination plants for water and given the history of droughts in the East, they have had to build plants to be ready for the same thing. Ip people want to live in the desert, they can do that in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan, no need to come here.

Muslim migrants integrate better in small numbers, rather than large numbers, where they are large enough to obtain political influence.
Name me one Islamic country where people have free speech like we do.
So comparing Islam and Buddhism is hardly a valid comparison.

Alan,

So we agree, Australia cannot take all 42 million.

It seems our debate is now sensible. It's a debate about capacity.

OK I accept 40,000 pa.

Ok now tell me what you intend to do with illegal asylum seeker number 40,001?

Hello again.

A few brief responses:

@Ludwig: “Australia in its support of the US could be viewed as being part of an international effort to try and bring unrest in the Middle East to an end ...”

Ludwig, remember the ‘shock and awe’ bombings in 2003 which killed so many thousand Iraqis? Have you tried to consider these events from their viewpoint?

@Geoff of Perth: "If you think we can modify the current western model to accommodate those outside the mainstream theatre, please give me a model that proves it can be done ...”

Geoff, many researchers look at Australia, New Zealand and Canada as models. All three have accepted waves of migrants over the centuries - as now. All are quite sustainable.

@Yabby: “But moving say 2 million Hazaras from Afghanistan to Australia ... is not going to solve anything, except to create a Hazarastan in Australia ...”

Yabby, no-one is suggesting Australia take 2 million Hazaras. Just a fair share. Total percentage of Australia’s Mulsims who are of Afghan origin is minuscule.

@Kactuz: “Yes, there are good Muslims, but collectively they are a minus. Most will not integrate and they will not accept or respect the 'other'...”

Kactuz, have you pondered the number of times Christian countries – USA, Britain, Australia and others – have invaded Muslim nations since WWII in the quest for resources or political dominance? And how many Christian countries Muslim nations have invaded in that time? Is it possible there are reasons for Muslim hostility?

@SPQR: You show links to four Muslims of dubious character.

A quick google search yields about 44 names of Moslems making highly positive contributions in Australia. These include writers, actors, sportsmen, business and community leaders and MPs.

So, I’ll see your four and raise you 40.

And finally, @SPQR again: “This is an example of the gross distortion that is often exercised by refugee advocates ... They conflate temporary residency with resettlement.”

No. The figures quoted re Liberia, Kenya, Tunisia and the others were specifically for ‘Refugees recognised and resettled’ as shown here:

http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/n/media/120618-Global-Trends.pdf

Cheers, AA

*Yabby, no-one is suggesting Australia take 2 million Hazaras. Just a fair share*

Not quite correct Alan. Marylin on here thinks we should consider
ourselves fortunate that millions have not yet arrived from places like Iran. Neither you, the Greens or Marylin, are prepared to say
what your plans would be if they tried to all arrive here. Australians won't accept unlimited numbers, no matter what the UN says.

I note that you refuse to answer Iamjullianutter's question.

I think you will find that most Iraqis are actually quite pleased that the Americans got rid of Saddam. Shite-Sunni conflict has existed in Iraq from long before they did so. Tribalism is part of the culture there

When did White people volunteer to be the world's Plan B?
It's quite clear that Sarah Hansen Young and her ilk empathise with non White Refugees and feel apathy if not antipathy towards their own ethnic group, so to White Australians such as myself it's quite clear that at least in terms of identity SHY is not White in any meaningful sense of the word.
If that statement makes sense to anyone reading it you're probably White and you may at this point wonder why it is that people who are not identifiably White and who have no loyalty to you and your children are in a position to make decisions regarding the ethnic makeup of YOUR community?
MS Hansen Young looks like your sister or your daughter but she doesn't have the same software running in her head, she's clearly not one of us.

Hi Yabby. Fair questions.

“Why should boat people be treated better and have preference over people in refugee camps?”

They don’t. The overwhelming majority are fleeing torture or death. Queue jumpers are weeded out and sent home.

If anything, Australia has been too strict on this. Several refugees sent home have been killed.

“The Australian economy is doing well right now, but things are far from certain. We have a mining boom which is not far from crashing. The merino sheep collapsed long ago.”

Yes and no, Yabby. We buy premium Australian lamb here in France. Italian suit makers pay squillions for Merino wool. So still profitable. It's just that you have other industries even more profitable.

Australia's total exports soared 10.2% in 2011 to $313.3 billion — first time exports exceeded $300 billion in any year. Australia ended the 2011-12 year with $9 million trade surplus for June and $5.8 billion for the year. Just extraordinary!

Yabby, Australia is not “being so silly as to copy Spain, Italy, Greece etc.” They are desperately trying to copy you.

“Name me one Islamic country where people have free speech like we do.”

Indonesia. World’s largest Muslim country. Has free speech like Australia. That is, free as long as you do not offend the Government or its powerful allies, as Australian citizen Julian Assange has done.

In response to imajulianutter: “Ok now tell me what you intend to do with illegal asylum seeker number 40,001?”

If he is a genuine asylum seeker he will be sent to whichever country has not filled its quota. If not, he goes home. If all quotas are full, he will stay in detention until they are revised. If quotas are not revised, he will likely commit suicide as have so many other asylum seekers under Australia’s jurisdiction recently.

Finally, Yabby, yes, “most Iraqis are actually quite pleased that the Americans got rid of Saddam.”

True. But not happy with the manner of his demise. Most Australians wanted to see the back of John Howard. But no-one wanted him killed after a mock show trial, did they?