Banjo - In Indonesia and Malaysia the Government gives them NOTHING so to stay the majority have to work illegally for some food and somewhere to stay a lot get nothing except that for hours of work the employer can call the police on them anytime if they give trouble they are the perfect slaves.

They know Australians do not want them but they have no alternative but to come to the land of the golden handshake & welfare for life.

Phillip S,
But not all of the illegals are broke either, that is a furphy put out by the illegals advocates to paint them as being poor and under threat. They pay big money for false travel docs and bribes to officials, then many times more than the going air fare to smugglers. Former workers at detention centres have told how many store their gold and US currency in the centres safe whilst there.

There is no two ways about it, the illegals are shonks and we are taken for a ride.
They have been stopped from coming before and they can be stopped now, it is just a matter of enforcing adequate deterants.

Getting back to subject, I do not particually mind cuts to foreign aid but the money saved should benefit Australians, not wasted on illegals. Foreign aid should be directed toward stemming population growth.

Banjo - You are right, that's why I wrote "the majority have to work" there are then left a reasonable number that more than likely have more money than me.

Cap't Emad apparently had a number of shops in Malaysia yet was accepted - the checks they do are useless

A hard time is coming as growth disappears and economies try to cope
with high energy prices.
We have our own version of the Greek disease and whether you have multi
billions of debt or multi millions of debt you are still in debt and in
a zero growth era or a contracting economy if you cannot pay your
debts you are still in strife.

I don't think Tony Abbott is aware of what we face and certainly Julia
Gillard and Wayne Swan haven't a clue otherwise they would not be
committing to such large future expenditures.
The only real hope we have is that Abbott and Hockey will set up a
trend to start cutting back before it is forced down their throat.
The fun times are over and smaller and cheaper government will be the
only option.

could not help but feel very sorry for the poor Sri Lankans on 7.30 report last night for being sent home after being lied to by people smugglers. Rudd and the Labour party are squarley to blame for creating such a mess where false hope and serious danger was offered to these people. Surely they could never again claim to be the compassionate ones. They are disgusting in their use of politics leading to the misery of so many, the death of a thousand plus and the wastage of billions of dollars on a problem they created along with the Greens.