Lexi,
The links I posted are direct from our government, as of 1-5-13, and they clearly state that persons entering Australia without a valid visa are unlawfull. That is unequivocal and direct from the government department responsible for implementing the Immigration Act. The source is impeccable but you still prefer to believe some advocacy group. You are the one that will not accept fact.

So now you are saying that our government is guilty of putting wrong and misleading information out to the public. Have I stumbled across another Gillard lie? Remember this is not from some politician speaking, it is direct from the DIAC.

As you disagree, you post any excerpt from any Act that shows persons have a right to enter without a valid visa and the grounds on which we can detain them if they are legal entrants.

If i recall correctly, you have already stated that asylum seekers were different to people and did not qualify as travelers.

Dear Banjo,

I shall repeat again, The Migration Act 1958 allows
for those seeking asylum to enter Australia with or
without visas. The same situation is covered by the
UN Refugee Convention to which Australia is a
signatory. Google these for yourself. This is important
for several reasons. Firstly - facts do matter and
secondly "illegal" suggests that asylum seekers are
breaking the law, which they are not. Asylum seekers
have a right to enter a country for the purposes of
seeking asylum regardless of how they arrive or whether
they hold valid travel or identity documents.

By definition asylum seekers want authorities to find
them. Illegal immigrants do not. Illegals are people who
are here in breach of their visa conditions. They may
have overstayed their temporary visas, tourist visas,
they might be working more hours than their student visas
permit. It's hard to measure but we know there are at least
50,000 illegals in Australia and a Government Reprot in 2010
suggested it could be as many as 100,000.

More than half of them have called Australia home for five or
more years, 20,000 have lived here for a decade or more and
two in three illegals have evaded immigration authorities for
more than two years. According to stats - more than one in
every 390 people is now an illegal. Illegal immigrants have
been involved in drug cartels, sex slavery, frauds and other
scams.

Three in four illegals come here on a tourist visa or work
visas, one in seven arrive as students and one in 15 disappeared
after being granted temporary residency. Tens of thousand of
foreign students expect to live here once their courses here
finished and so it goes on.

But the biggest misconception is that people who arrive by boat
are illegal immigrants. This is not the case. The following
link is one of many that adheres to that:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-17/cassidy-a-rare-challenge-for-abbott/4203120

I shall probably not be responding to you any further.

lexi,
Good to see that you have tried to search the issue and that you have learned about other things like overstayers, illegal migrants, student visas, backpackers and maybe even 457 visas. But you have not uncovered anything official that states that the entrants in question can enter legally. This is because it does not exist. The DIAC are the officials responsible for the Immigration Act and they state the entrants are unlawfull. But i add, because we are nice people, we undertake not to prosecute those that arrive illegally but then claim our protection.

But if you prefer to believe a left wing commentator from a left wing TV program and the spin from an asylum seekers advocacy group, that is your right.

Meanwhile I will continue to correct those that try to claim the illegals have any right to enter. It is a pity you have been misled.

Dear Banjo,

Sorry, but I'm not the one that's "misled."
You seem to be stuck on the words "unlawful."
Yes, people without visas are considered
as unlawful. But they are not seeking "protection,"
and the Migration Act 1958 or the UN Refugee Convention
does not apply to them.

Asylum seekers and Refugees: what are the facts?

DIAC quite clearly states that the term "illegal" applies only to those without a valid visa (unlawful non-citizens)
WHO ARE NOT SEEKING PROTECTION
such as visa overstayers. It does not apply to asylum seekers or refugees. And, As of 30th June 2011 it was
estimated that there were about 58,400 visa overstayers residing
in Australia.

Cheers.

cont'd ...

And you're right "illegals" don't have
the right of entry into Australia.
But, asylum seekers and Refugees do.
They are not breaking any Australian or
International laws and are not "illegal.

Lexi is right.
It is the rest of you who refuse to see the difference between a normal immigrant, the kind reffered to in banjos links, and an asylum seeker, who is someone fleeing persecution. What is so hard? Or is it that you just cant handle something that contradicts your nasty bigotry?