Australia has had a successful Business Migration scheme that allows cashed up foreigners the opportunity to invest in Australia as part of their right to live and work here. Australia should be attracting the best and brightest without necessarily charging them $50,000 for the visa. The system will be quickly corrupted if people can pay with borrowed or suspicious money.

David,

The only problem is that Australia would have to withdraw from the UNHCR charter of which it is a founder member.

The problem of illegal boats has been solved, and we can now move on.

SM, I'd suggest that claiming the problem is solved is a little optimistic. Leaving aside the ethics of the current solution history demonstates all to clearly how a change in government can change the outcomes. It's clear that the current "solution" has plenty of scope to be a political football. Probably any solution will have some of that potential but the current solution leaves a lot of people with genuine concerns even if they did/do want the boats stopped.

Its worth exploring alternatives that don't involve keeping the navy tied up, alternatives to running prison camps (or paying our neighbours to run them for us), alternatives that don't involve a great temptation to get into old fishing boats to get to Austalia, alternatives that don't involve responsibility for us when things go wrong.

R0bert

...What a stupid idea: Australia is already host to way too many Chinese drug runners who live here legitimately, through such unworkable and opportunistic schemes proposed and implemented by naive elites!

...Get your feet back on the ground!

R0bert,

With nearly 6 months since the last boat arrival, this is the lowest arrival rate since 2000. The activity of the navy is drastically reduced now they are not acting as a water taxi, numbers of detainees are dwindling and camps are closing.

Boat arrivals have been solved, cleaning up Labor's mess will take a little longer.

Such crass ignorance. Is this what we are to expect from Senator elect Leyonhjelm in Canberra? Might I suggest advice is sought on what constitutes a refugee from the Parliamentary Library.
Bruce Haigh

@Bruce Haigh,

When Bruce Haigh and his confederates ruled --anyone and everyone-- who could afford to jet first class into Jakarta International airport … boat out a few Kms off the Indo coast ...and call the HMAS taxi service on their iPhones was deemed a refugee

SPQR you forgot the thousands that arrive by plane into Australia and claim Asylum, those arriving by boats appear to be softer targets for comment.

Bruce,

Compared to the Labor MPs that tried to tell us that Labor's moronic abolition of the Pacific solution would only result in a small uptick in boats as the boats were primarily driven by push factors.

@Kipp,

Nope! YOU FORGOT that that old furthy has been answered & debunked about ten thousand times.

Get someone to write some new lines for you.

Macedonian advocacy.

"Australia should be attracting the best and brightest without necessarily charging them $50,000 for the visa"....

Mr Advocacy...This country already has the greatest minds....if the public world wants a slice, you will pay the money, or go else where politely speaking.....What's the plus you might say or ask.....we have a low population bonus:)

Kat

Bruce Haigh, is that kettle who calls the pot black.

As was suggested, the best way to come to the actual amount the fee would be would be by an auction. If parliament decides to allow 80,000 new arrivals per year, then approx. 1,500 permits should be auctioned off per week. We could thus get weekly updates on the popularity and health of our great nation by noticing if the price was moving up or down.

Shadow Minister,
Yes, you’re right, Australia would have to withdraw from the UNHCR charter. And the reason we don’t is?

Macedonian A,
So let’s get this right. The system can’t get corrupted when people happen to have a lot of money in the bank when they apply, immaterial of whether it is still there after being granted residence, but the system can get corrupted when we have taken the new immigrants $50,000 and it is now locked safely away in the Treasury’s bank account, but we can still kick him out if he misbehaves?

Bruce Haigh,
You called someone you disagree with ignorant. Wow, there’s absolutely no way to beat that argument!

The boat people are a tiny fraction of the number of immigrants coming into Australia every year ! Something must be done to lower the overall numbers, Presently we have a Welfare system that supposed to be out of control,so why are we not being a bit more stricter on the immigrants that are allowed to come here, in respect of their earning capacity ?
The Boats haven't stopped, they have all just been hidden from out of plain sight !

trapdiocan,

The majority of immigrants are young and educated, and add to the net wealth and taxes that support the welfare and pension schemes.

EC,

Why withdraw from the UNHCR charter when we no longer have a problem?

Shadow,
“The majority of immigrants are young and educated, and add to the net wealth and taxes that support the welfare and pension schemes.”

If 51% of immigrants are hardworking that’s good. But that is still no reason to allow 49% (whatever) in so they can go on the dole. The idea of quarantining all immigrants from the dole for a number of years is good. (Legislate special exemptions from minimum wage laws for them.) Those who truly suffer persecution where they come from won’t mind doing it tough here until they get on their feet considering they will be in a free and safe country.

“Why withdraw from the UNHCR charter when we no longer have a problem?”

David’s proposal put into practice would save us a lot of money, eliminate (what might be viewed as) corruption of the system (arranged marriages, political choices in what demographics allowed in, Foreign Minister’s prerogative to override deportation orders, subjective decision making of refugee tribunals, alleged family reunions, possibly backhanders in play throughout the bureaucratic system), and de-congest our courts.

Edward Carson,

Now the illegal boats have been stopped, the majority i.e. 90% are skilled migrants on 457 visas that pay tax, and receive no welfare, medicare, school subsidies etc. Even when they do get PR, they are not eligible for unemployment benefits for at least 2 years.