I don't always agree with Norm, but he's 100% right on what should happen with Tol Van Tran, Van Hoa and all the others on that boat. But I'd also add the following:-
1) Immediately drop all charges
2) An official and public apology from the Government and DIMIA
3) DIMIA officer and govt officials who stand in the way of these people being immediately accepted into Australia should be sent to a communist government, convicted of crimes, spend time in their jails, then offered an escape in a boat like Tran and Hoa used
4) Tran and Hoa should be offially known as hero's and should be referred to as such
5) All people on the boat should be given a clear achievable path to full Australian citizenship
6) Any of their family members still in Vietnam should be offered the same
I recently went to Shanghai, 22 million people in one city. I'm now living in the Philippines. We can accommodate an increase in immigration of over 10-fold and we should do it. Not only that, but we should reverse the criteria, we DON'T want people who are already rich, we want those who want to be educated and who want to work hard but don't have the money for it. They will do what our previous immigrants did, they will come to Aust, work hard, make money, increase productivity, pay taxes and improve Australia's standing in the world. And we could finally feel good about being Australians, instead of feeling shame at the way we treat those most oppressed and most in need.
Dad, I disagreed with you last weekend, you said the Eagles would get done by Brisbane. I was right when I disagreed with you then and I'm right agreeing with you this time.
NJB13

There must be a portfolio they can give Vanstone that does not involve human beings. Or perhaps Howard has convinced enough people that ‘unauthorized arrivals’ (recently modified from ‘illegals’) are somehow less than human.

This episode is consistent with the all too familiar example of atrocity produced by Howard’s asylum seeker policies and there will be many tormented and anxious families left in his wake.

“4) Tran and Hoa should be offially known as hero's and should be referred to as such”

Absolutely.