rache,
Come on,are you going to try that furphy of 'more illegals arrive by air than by boat'again?

Just look up the Immigration Dept. website, the stats are there and easy to find.

Yes some illegals try to get here by air, but those found without or incorrect visas are promptly sent back to the place of embarkation on the same airline that brought them here. Most of them (about 95%, I think) within 72 hours of arrival. Boat arrivals, without identifacation etc. should be treated the same.

So arrivals of illegals by air is not an issue.

There have been a few in the past that have engaged light aircraft to fly them from Indonesia to northern remote airstrips where they have been met by others here. Fortunately these have been very few. Probably because the penalties for the aircrafts owners is great and includes the loss of his aircraft.

Banjo: << Come on,are you going to try that furphy of 'more illegals arrive by air than by boat'again? >>

Come on Banjo, are you going to try your usual lies again?

Asylum seekers are not "illegals", as you persist in calling them. They have every right under our treaty obligations to seek asylum in Australia if they can get here by whatever means. While you obviously don't like that fact, that doesn't excuse your persistent mendacity.

<< Just look up the Immigration Dept. website, the stats are there and easy to find. >>

Selective quotation of statistics is a form of lying, old son.

"Illegal immigrants" in Australia are overwhelmingly those who have entered the country on a valid visa and then overstayed.

Many thanks to Peter van Vliet for reminding us of our humanitarian moral and legal obligations to provide asylum to our share of the world's legitimate refugees, and to those who've responded in kind.

This is one of those perennial OLO topics, and some of the usual suspects have trotted out the same tired old xenophobic excuses here. However, this article provides some kind of balance to the tripe promulgated by the misanthropes and thinly disguised racists who use forums like OLO to promote the hateful agendas at every opportunity.

Intercepted a yawl full of illegals , about a league from Ashmore
We’re fleeing firebrand mullahs, spruiking sharia & war
One can’t wait UNHCR processing, when ones house is on fire!
So I lowered the gangplank, said climb on board, I’ll take you all to shore.

Came thirty men with two bags each, and three first class flight tags a bag
and a bull someone won, in some “raffles” Singapore.
I said Ah! I see no women, where did you leave your wives?
Wives, why we have four a piece, they’re home fighting the fire.

And well rehearsed their stories were, & on and on they went,
how forty days & nights, on raging seas they spent
how bull their food water & papers , did each inturn ingest
I said ditch the bull, no said they Ozy bleeding hearts eager buyers, when presented with bull do.

Port Headland and instant-residency, with choice of no-frills-coffee or tea-bag-tea
Then three took out iphones, and one a black-berry
SMSing folk back home, “hurry catch next ferry”.
Perhaps their bull had touched me, something didn’t smell quite right.

So rang up my MP, but got a pretty poor line
Only a few needy people, they’ve had one hell of a time.
Anyone who’d turn them away, would be mean hearted swine
Besides said my MP, it wouldn’t pay to jeopardize, my post-politics ambitions of the UN kind.

They're settled now free board n keep, for husband wives n kids
But lately some been thinking, in a funda-mental way
Aussie men & women too amoral ,Aussie media too insensitive
Not a place to unveil your daughter, nor a place to khitan your son.

And those incendiary words of Mullah, now have a homely ring
We’ll bring him over the next boat, before northern spring
And with multicultural grants, build a madrassah out Camden way
And rediscovering our identity , cleave together in a ghetto, and practise the sharia way

The issues are
* Are the asylum seekers genuine refugees, or economic migrants? Europe has vast numbers of the latter, and they are threatening to destroy the priceless centre of Western civilization by shameless welfare dependence (so well described by Enoch Powell in “Rivers of Blood”) and violent Islam (see the riots a day or so ago in Athens over defacement of the Koran. Compare that with the supine reaction here to desecration of a Bible at the East Preston Islamic College a year or so ago.)

* Are the arrivers interested in assimilating into the Australian community, or do they want to bring cultural (and especially religious) baggage that is hostile to the host culture? A proportion of people granted refugee status are certainly of the latter category.

Apart from the Tamils from Sri Lanka - whose leadership has perpetrated appalling violence through assassinations and suicide bombings - nearly all of the refugees, genuine or otherwise, making for Australia come from Muslim countries. Why should the dysfunctionality, obscurantism and violence of nearly all the Muslim world be OUR problem?

The solution (for example) to problems like Darfur is political change in Sudan, NOT flooding Australia with unassimilable people. Similarly Somalia - I feel sorry for them as a failed state, but their execrable religion-ridden culture and predilection for female genital mutilation are incompatible with life in Australia.

I'm prepared to tolerate Muslims if they tolerate me. But I feel fear and loathing of those who want to rave on about jihad, and absolute contempt for those (and their supporters) who think it is OK to flood Australia with people whose cultural values are straight out of the 14th century.

I do feel sympathy for the Afghans and Iraqis. Even so, we still need to assess carefully all individuals’ claims for refugee status, and ALSO their capacity for assimilation into the Australian community.

In the DNA of all except for Aboriginals is a sense of arrival by boat, that mixed with a nostalgic yet barbaric feeling of "We got here first", does not apply with Indigenous Australia.

For 250 years or so since we invaded, I dont think we have a treaty with Aboriginals and I dont think that we are going to reconcile our differences, we said sorry and thats enough humiliation!?.

The vietnamese, the chinese, and other Asian races may provide the long awaited key to Indigenous Sovereignty as there is growing feelings in Australia that like the US, real 360 degree change may be a prerequisite and the support of an Indigenous Prime Minister or President will ensue in order to truly close the gap first before a sound policy for non-australians can be properly quantified.

Glorfindel names the dysfunctional, sick and infirm invading, the only people worried are the ones that invaded Australia in the beggining complete with pestilence and cruel law of the sea as exists today, the only people far from interested are the first Australians that have seen this all before.

Glorfindel, Aboriginal people of Australia still loathe your celebration of Australia day when the Indigenous people of Australia mourne the same day as Invasion day?

The philosophy of Zero Hurt & Harm must come into play as experienced by Indigenous Australia since the arrival of Afgans 100 years ago. Indigenous people have always been treated with respect in relation to Muslim and I think this issue should be re thought before rants against other peaceful religions and races. Please take note that I do not support Hurt & Harm.

The Host Culture is Indigenous not Anglican, Baptist Church of England or any other English or European culture and I for one am glad that you have recognized the Host Culture as Indigenous, if not then you are in as much fault as the people youre complaining about.

What makes this country unique is not Europeanism or Asianism but the Indigenous people of Australia and their culture of great spiritualism lest we forget

This article is typical propaganda from a pro-migration activist who also has a vested interest.
I suggest to the writer that he takes a holiday from his preconceived notions,if he can,and consider the reality of Australia.

That reality is,in brief - An arid continent with unreliable rainfall and a limited area of good soils suitable for agriculture.
Large scale degradation of agricultural and pastoral land which will take many,many years to fix,even if that is possible.
Given the above alone,and there are many other adverse factors,our ability to feed ourselves in a future without ready access to fossil fuels is doubtful.Scientists,such as Tim Flannery and Jared Diamond have posed a population of about 10 million as a sustainable level at something like current living standards.This means we are already in 100% overshoot.
If we are prepared to go to a third world lifestyle I'm sure we could squeeze in a few extra millions.Perhaps the writer,and his fellow Boobs From The Burbs cornucopians would like to put their money where their mouth is and emigrate to one of the many overpopulated nations in the world. - enjoy!

Australia needs a zero immigration policy,including so called refugees.We also need a policy of gradual population reduction.
Malthus described the alternatives.