Noisy Scrub Bird- to be quite frank I think the main reason for the staunch opposition is most Australians think that the people coming in among our current intake would only start causing problems when let in; and as such are not remotely sympathetic to this current intake, compared even to our past refugee demographics from Europe and later Asia (and it corresponds fairly closely to the jump in popularity of both Pauline Hanson (who previously focused on Asians) and John Howard when they started to focus their ire on potential immigrants from Muslim backgrounds.

Some facts re the "Tampa" incident are needed. The "Tampa" rescued over 400 survivors from a sinking ship. Normal maritime practice. The Master intended to take them to an Indonesian port - again correct. His alternative was to take them to Singapore, his next port of call, but much further. Some passengers objected and made him steer to Christmas Island. That is defined as piracy and had it been possible to identify them they should have been charged.
The "Tampa" was a Norwegian ship, Norwegian territory, and it was the duty of the Norwegian Government to take the asylum seekers when they claimed asylum. Howard correctly sent the asylum seekers to a 'neutral' country where they could be 'processed'. Most, but not all, were eventually accepted as refugees and of these most were admitted to Australia.
The boats that bring them to Australia are "Passenger Ships" under international law - they are on an international voyage and carry more than 12 persons in addition to the Master, Pilot and Crew. Almost every one of them breaks the SOLAS Convention in not being properly constructed or equipped for the voyage, and their Masters commit a crime in departing from Indonesia in such a situation.
Finally, re "children overboard". The Captain of HMAS Adelaide (?) did not say he had seen children being thrown overboard. The officer he was speaking to (radio telephone) thought he had, but did not check or confirm the statement. Nobody bothered to check (Government, Opposition and the Press accepted the story) till a newspaper did so just two days before the election. Note, I think it was a Murdoch paper!

NSB,

"It is alright for a lot of Australian fat cats to put Asylum Seekers down, what happened to the "Fair Go" tag that Aussies were synonymous for."

I think you are confusing "fair go" and "sucker"

Noisy Scrub Bird
It is all nice and cuddly to say "oh the poor things".

The only reason so many of them get in, is I suspect, because they
cannot be reliably identified. Throwing their passports away should be
the primary reason for being repatriated. They certainly should not get
residency.
We know that they had a passport because they could not get to
Indonesia without one. The absence of the passport should be proof of lying.

Bazz

Yep that is true.

G'day Bazz,
I agree with you, but on the other side of the coin the Government has measures in place to decide whether or not the applicants are genuine, what I am trying to say, is that there is not a one-size fits all in the case of all people trying to get in to Australia.
Noisy