Ultimately, for Mr Rudd the need to be Popular is greater than the need to do what is right and that is the evolving problem in this country.

His information freeze about the fire on the refugee boat is in the vain hope that people will simply forget about it,like they have about the Fitzgibbon affair,Julia Gillard's hairdresser boyfriend being appointed as a Mens ambassador, his ill fated money wasting 2020 summit attempt to get "new ideas", etc etc

He has trotted up various sacrificial Ministers, apologetic Navy personnel and tried to distract the community with "Look over here not there" announcements about trivial things. At present this is not diminishing the interest in the outcome of this incident yet at the same time he continues to rank highly on the popularity stakes, so in effect his strategy is working.

Rudd's just a BSA .

If he knows nothing about , the Boat ,Petrol , Deaths etc how come he knows all about "The" people smugglers involved in this case eg; Did they wave Placards "We are the Vile Low Life Mongrel _ SMUGGLERS ".
How does he know the Indo's involved are Smugglers , why can't they be simply sympathizers trying to help desperate people , fellow Islamics possibly .

Too bloody right, Leigh. Bugger these fucken' illegals. Bloody criminals! Who do they think they are? What a cheek!

Who cares if they live in a war torn hell-hole? Who cares if they spend 80% of their time worrying about who is going to shoot or bomb them today, with the other 20% focused on issues affecting all developing nations (sanitation, food, health, all those other basic necessities we take for granted). These fucken’ illegals are trying to sneak in through our back door on dangerous, un-seaworthy vessels. The hide of the bastards!

And if they do get in with their ‘2 or 3 set stories’ about the horrors of war and poverty which Leigh, myself and damn near everyone else fortunate enough to live in this great nation of ours will almost certainly never have to endure, providing limited support to them for a short time while they find their feet in their new home might possibly have a infinitesimally small impact on our comfortable, peaceful and extremely privileged way of life. My god, how awful! It certainly puts infected shrapnel wounds and other such minor inconveniences in perspective.

Thankfully, Krudd is acting like the Prime Minister of Australia. As much as I dislike the man, ‘twould seem he has sufficient intelligence to realise that Australia is not solely populated by redneck, xenophobic, frothing-at-the-mouth pseudo-fascists, and that in fact these unpleasant folk make up a small but shrill minority. Good for you, Krudd.

Candide,

I think you are over-estimating bravery, resourcefulness and family committment of a group of people who were totally stupid in being prepared to blow up their own boat in an endeavour to illegally enter Australia.

Don't think they blew up their own boat? Ever had anything to do with largish boats with inboard motors? They are all equiped with diesel motors because of the extreme danger in using petrol motors in confined spaces. The danger from fumes is just to great.

Then tell me why would a boat with a diesel motor need petrol? And since it had not leaked from the engine how would the petrol, as claimed, have have got into the bilges?

And from the apparent force of the blast it would have been more than just a few litres.

I suspect the Australian boarding party would have smelt the petrol fumes and left the boat immediately. Enclosing petrol in confined spaces on boats is very very dangerous...and is something reasonable people would just not countanence ... under any circumstance.

Like a derelict nervously picking at a sore that won't heal, the conservatives return to the familiar but ugly territory of border protection and the spectre of a "wave" of foreigners invading our shores. In the absence of vision, values or humanity all that is left is the last refuge for people bereft of relevance and morality - fear, prejudice and polarisation. Shame on those who have forgotten the painful lessons of the last decade, your continuing lack of compassion for people in desperate circumstances diminishes us all.

In transit between Afghanistan and Australia are three countries with the world's largest Islamic populations: Pakistan, India and Indonesia. Malaysia is also en route.
The term refugee is an emotive term and not a credible one.
Illegal immigrants is the only accurate descriptor although destination shoppers comes to mind.