Hey Yabby how true.

Unfortunately people fail to realise that 1 in 6 people in the US rely on Food Stamps to survive, that's over 50 million people.

Globally, middle classes are disappearing at a greater and greater rate.

We live in a ponzi fractional reserve banking system, over time all of the money and the lifestyle everyone aspires to, ends up in the top 5 or 1% of the population.

Our existing and future pension, welfare systems are slowly but surely becoming unaffordable, anyone with a modicum of basic maths knowledge can work this out.

The last thing this country needs is more economic refugees. Unfortunately most of the boat people coming to Oz are economic refugees and their continued growth in number ilks badly for our own economic sustainability (if thats not already an oxymoron!)

Geoff

Hey Geoff,

I came to Australia in the 1970's without a visa, with a wife and little money. I had no trade or professional qualifications. I left a country which at the time was struggling economically... as were both my wife and I. We came here to take advantage of the openess of Australia and to make our fortune.

After 40 years, nearly all as a naturalised Australian, two children and one grandchild, financial independence and after finally abandoning the last vestiges of my original heritsge I think if myself as a former economic refugee.

The hardest act I've accomplished is to cheer, with my children, the Wallabies when we play the All Blacks.

imajulianutter I commend you good Sir, well done.

More of your ilk please...

Unfortunately the economic refugees we now get, in the main, want to get on the welfare gravy train, don't assimilate and do little for the future prosperity and social cohesion this country needs.

Regards

Geoff

Geoff: how many of these "economic refugees" do you know?

Asylum seekers are not granted asylum in Australia without hard proof that they are in danger if they return home. Those are the rules and refugee advocates will give you cases where the rules were harshly applied to the extent of sending people back to danger.

Asserting that asylum seekers are economic migrants when historically 90% have been granted asylum is a lie. Bob Carr knows this; perhaps you choose to believe him out of ignorance. If this were true explain this to me: why is Australia not awash with "asylum seekers" from the biggest sources of poor people like India and Bangladesh?

Asserting that they prefer to live on welfare is also a lie. While there are some who fail to integrate, the majority do and contribute economically. The big cost to the economy is imprisoning them.

These are facts you can easily discover for yourself. That politicians lie is a fact you don't need to discover. It's been known for a long time.

PhilipM,

<<Asylum seekers are not granted asylum in Australia without hard proof that they are in danger if they return home>>

What *HARD EVIDENCE* do they present PhilipM?

Geoff,

Yes, it's rather ironic isn't:

"Unfortunately people fail to realise that 1 in 6 people in the US rely on Food Stamps to survive, that's over 50 million people."

The US has spent many trillions invading and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan - (money that may have helped its own economy and perhaps have stemmed the need for people to rely on "food stamps")

...not only that, those actions have caused the destabilisation that's led to much of the refugee diaspora from the region.

A relatively small proportion of those people are now landing on our doorstep.