Toby time to grow up mate.

If these people ever were refugees they would be jumping for joy at being "saved".

To have someone give them safe haven, cater to their every need, & do it in a tropical paradise would be a dream to every genuine refugee on earth.

If you are too dumb to be able to see they totally invalidate their claim to be in fear of their life, when they bitch about being given safe haven, that is your problem, not ours.

Really time to open your eyes & take a look at the real world.

Oh but it does, if it means keeping intending Isil "operatives" (Men, women and boys) forever out of this country!
One recalls however, the men who brought down the twin towers, arrived by air, with impeccable paper work; were clean shaven, suit wearing, smiling affable men, and butter wouldn't melt in their mouths.
That said, we should have thermal imaging cameras at all entry points, as the most credible assisted means, to arrive at the real facts, as opposed to some of the fairy tales, we are asked to accept from intending refugees/asylum seekers/criminal gang members/war criminals?
When people tell porkies, even lie detector beating psychopaths, certain areas of the brain always light up! ALWAYS!
And if you include CAFR, formerly undetectable, tiny little micro facial movements, also inform about credibility; and therefore, ought to also be included.
And given a very high failure rate, automatic repatriation! No if buts or maybes!
Which by the way, just has to be vastly less costly, than housing many many sometimes very disingenuous people, for multiple years, as our virtual, if entirely uninvited guests.
I don't like my very own rallies arriving uninvited, let alone complete strangers, with mouths chock full of clever invention!
That said, the real and inherent problem here, I believe, seems to be an extremely recalcitrant and very power hungry/blame shifting minister?
Rhrosty.

Old Man,

Without the concept of ZERO, which is apparently Hindu in origin, none of the achievements that you mention would have been attainable; I'll grant you steam engines and boilers 'cause they're simple but the other things require some mathematics.

The off-shore processing of refugees and denying them refuge is expensive, inhumane and contrary to our international obligations under the refugee convention.

We say we are cruel because we want to stop deaths at sea. Why did a coroner's report into the SEIV 358, where over 100 people drowned, find authorities failed to respond to the many calls for help. Why didn't we immediately go to their aid?

What do we know about these tropical utopia's we send them to? Not much as they are veiled in secrecy. We know they are places where a healthy young man can die from a simple cut to the foot. Where men can be killed and shot and stabbed and can not be guaranteed it will not happen again. We know that there are shortages of clean water. We know children aren't being educated. We know a 3 y o child had epileptic seizures when her medication was confiscated. Reports of women being asked for sexual favours to gain access to showers which are limited due to water shortages. People including children making suicide attempts. People being referred to by number, not name. There is more, but those are instances I can remember off the top of my head. To say they are living in a paradise seems a bit far fetched. Even if they were shacked up at a 5 star hotel, they would still not be free and still have no certainty about their future - which is a form of cruelty most of us could not bear without going insane.

We have reports of Tamil refugees who have been tortured on their return to Sri Lanka - Nails removed, beatings, electric shocks.

We know refugees have burnt themselves alive rather than be deported.

We are a nation, built on supposedly Christian values. We have a duty to assess these people and if they are fleeing persecution, we should let them in and allow them to start living their lives again in peace. To return them to their persecutors is beyond awful - it is a disgrace.

Dear BJelly,

Some of what you wrote is touching and I agree.

We are certainly responsible for our cruel actions and should be ashamed.

But we should not be responsible for the acts of nature.

If people choose to sail the oceans in un-seaworthy boats, then it's not our responsibility if they drown.

I also do not agree that "We are a nation"; that we as a group have any active duty towards others; or that government had a right in the first place to take up obligations in our name. But while governments are not obliged to do anything, no government has a right to prevent those of us who are Christians from helping refugees in our individual capacity or within voluntary groups (including churches).

This whole problem stems from the government's obsession with "sovereignty". Earth has only one sovereign - which is God!

Hi Yuyustu

"we should not be responsible for the acts of nature."
Do you take precautions in case of floods or storms? Would you call the SES for help if your house was damaged? If they thought like you they would not volunteer, after all they have families they could be protecting rather than going out in the wind and rain to help complete strangers.

"If people choose to sail the oceans in un-seaworthy boats, then it's not our responsibility if they drown."
It is if we know they are in trouble and do nothing to help them - maybe it is just me, but it seems kind of mean to choose to ignore people's cries for help when they are drowning when we are able to save them. We do this for all sorts of people more foolish than asylum seekers - there are lots of people who get into trouble at sea and there is a legal duty to save them. To do otherwise is simply barbaric.

"I also do not agree that "We are a nation"; that we as a group have any active duty towards others; or that government had a right in the first place to take up obligations in our name."

Wow that is harsh! Do you ever need to call on police, firies or ambos? I presume you pay taxes so you deserve the care and concern of public servants and others who will come to your aid if ever you need it. I think we are more than individuals, we are communal, and we choose to live in groups, and because of technology we can live in very large groups called nation-states. We can act individually, but sometimes we need to act as a group or nation to get things done.

I think that everyone is precious. We should do everything in our power to save lives - even those of strangers.