Pericles - quote "Having used up their life savings just to get on board," Wrong a lot the fare is paid to the smuggler in Australia by people who have already arrived, they are paying for relatives. Which makes you wonder where they got the money?

Remeber cap't emad and his 5 shops etc in Malaysia plus he worked there for years he was given a visa. - That goes to show how good our vetting process is he and thousand I would say have fooled the Government.

What a misanthropic bunch you are, to be sure. Not a single bone of humanity in your bodies. (I nearly said "Christian charity", but that would be making assumptions.)

>>Perhaps you don't realise Pericles, that the same economic activity would occur if we were to supply the same housing to our own.<<

It certainly hadn't occurred to me that it is a zero-sum game - for every dollar we spend on a refugee, somebody's white-haired old granny dies in squalor and penury...? Are you sure that's how it works?

>>Smart ass comments not withstanding, what is it you have against our own people? How many of these square peg gate crashers will it take to mend that bleeding heart of yours?<<

Unlike some - a type that appears well represented here, I notice - I believe that Australians are a generous, hospitable people who value the concept of "a fair go". As such, I have absolutely nothing against them In fact, I am very much in favour of them.

>>Rehctub is highlighting the huge sums of money spent in servicing “asylum seekers”.<<

And I was highlighting the opportunities for growing the economy as a result of the same activity. We simply see the same situation from a different angle, that's all.

>>Wrong a lot the fare is paid to the smuggler in Australia by people who have already arrived, they are paying for relatives<<

"A lot"? I'll believe "some". But every single one of the small handful of refugees that I know personally came the hard way, and arrived here with nothing but the clothes they wore.

Just returning to the headline of this thread for a moment.

"One hundred thousand bucks a year per person"

Let me ask a simple question.

What, in your view, would be an acceptable amount?

Ten thousand? One thousand? One hundred? Ten bucks...

Nothing?

Ahhh... I see.

So it's not about the money at all, is it.

@Pericles,

<< “Rehctub is highlighting the huge sums of money spent in servicing "asylum seekers'

And I was highlighting the opportunities for growing the economy as a result of the same activity. We simply see the same situation from a different angle, that's all>>

And you cannot conceive that money spent like this:

“An empty 737 plane chartered by the Federal Government was used to transfer a single asylum seeker from Christmas Island to Perth at the weekend”.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/14036715/737-chartered-for-one-asylum-seekers/

“The government reportedly is racking up a monthly bill of close to $2.5 million to house 500 asylum seekers.The immigration department has said it paid $60,000 a night in November 2010 to house up to 188 people at Darwin's Airport Lodge.
”http://g4online.org/node?page=6

Might be spend more effectively?

SPQR, here is some more info for Pericles
1) household goods worth thousands of dollars, including DVDs and plasma TVs, are being included in welcome packs provided to asylum seekers being housed in rent-free homes while their claims are processed.
2) Don't forget the free cigarettes
3) NOW even the Gillard Government knows the truth about its bungled refugee program. The people it's bringing in are costing us billions, with 85 per cent of refugees on Centrelink benefits in their first five years here.
4) Asylum seekers on Christmas Island have in the past year racked up a telephone bill costing taxpayers more than $15,000 a week.
5) Free legal aid for asylum seekers will cost taxpayers more than $60 million this year
6) In 2010/11 the cost of maintaining Australia's detention centres was about $770 million, or an average of $137,000 per detainee.

Every where else in the world the refugees are mostly women and children BUT here is what Australia gets Quote "thousands of young men to travel from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan to get on illegal boats to Australia."

What has happened is that they have outworn our generosity.
It does get to the point when we could put all that money to better use.
To make matters worse we now know that the genuine refugees are only a
small proportion of the total.
We are literally being mugged by those destroying their passports.
What have they got to hide ?

Ok, so now we are discussing how inefficient our public servants are, and how they spend our money like water.

Fair enough. I agree that those concerned appear to have no concept of the value of money. I can probably think of a number of other government programmes where our taxes are pissed up against a wall. It is, sadly, in the nature of people who spend money that is not their own, to indulge in excess and stupidity. So I am not defending their profligacy.

But at least we are talking about the money, and not the people.

So, any thoughts on how much is a sensible amount?