Just for da rekord..visa overstayers are a SMALLLL part of 'the problem'.

They do not constitute any large scale 'illegal immigration' because if you actually read the immigration stuff, they are caught and despatched quick smart.

What IS true...is that at any one time...there are many visa overstayers.. but they are not 'migrants'. The actual people among that 'many' change with the due processing and re-cycling back to their home countries.

There you go Bugsy.. you just learnt something.

AGIR

That's my point. So where's the problem with illegal immigration?. Why's it such a huge platform?. This topic isn't just highlighted by everyone aiming for government, this is in the top two. Why?. Really, it's a non-issue.

For goodness sake, when you say we can't take any more, look at the population of the other countries, the density of the UK for instance is about 400 persons per sq kilometer, in Australia it is about 4 per kilometer and Australia is 25 times the size of the Uk, and the situtation in other countries is much the same.The trouble is that we have always had plenty, and just don't want to share it with someone who needs it. The problem with the boat people is it is a great diversion to take away the poor economy we have put to by the parties over the last 40 years, but particularly the last 20 years. Our country is not being run by intelligent people with tops in integrity, they are greedy missfits who shouldn't be allowed in a shop or any place with valuables, without a keeper.

@STG.... to be truthful...I think it's the perception that we are being backdoored..undermined.. used... and that if we don't clamp down hard...the numbers will swell.

Even though it seems a trickle by some yardsticks.. the cumulative impace of the old faithful bogey men...

-Political outlook
-Religious creed
-Social values

are what concern many.. certainly me.

Putting this to the test.. when the Coalition took a hard line, boats slowed/stopped. When labor took a 'compassionate' (soft spineless) line..they increased.. a lot. Extrapolating this... clearly the trend is for 'more' if we are soft.

Given that we have a hung parliament right now, small numbers of votes can and do make a bigggg difference. They determine the Prime Minister...Immigration policy..Alliances with other countries and so on.

Looking at the US example.. now we see desperate Democrats in panic mode, reaching out to try to sure up power through the Latino community. 12 million new democract votes would be a hard chunk of temptation to resist mate...if all you cared about was *power*...and it increasingly seems that is the case.

StG I think you have understood it pretty well. It is an issue that is used to distract from greater problems within the parliamentary system, economics, unfair superannuation and pension levels, lack of real health reform etc, and used as a wedge in election campaigns particularly in some marginal seats. Despite the political rhetoric though, I do think most Australians see through this type of electioneering which was evident in the results at the polls.

The fact is asylum seekers constitute a very small percentage of total immigration figures and those who are found not to be refugees are dispatched to their country of origin or place of departure. The recent 4Corners Report highlighted the problems inherent in assessing refugee status, the risk of the boat journey and the complete lack of moral judgement on the part of smugglers.

There is certainly room for fraudulent claims under the asylum seeker protections but these are usually easily determined once identification is verified. Many of those who were left in detention centres were those whose identities could not be verified and who were found not to be legitimiate refugees but those seeking to circumvent the immigration process.

It would be a sad state if we repeated the mistakes of WWII which saw Jewish refugees being turned away in horrible circumstances.

StG's perfectly correct of course. Mind you, if the odious Abbott get his way and forces us back to the polls, you can bet your life that he'll bring out the dog whistle that he managed to mostly conceal during the last campaign.

'Boat people' are only an issue for the xenophobic and/or racist minority, who are only relevant when cynical politicians want to harness their bigotry in order to get elected. Otherwise, they are rightly an embarrassment to the rest of us and generally ignored.