Yes Ludwig, but it is going to be very hard to reverse the flow.
A very hard line will have to be taken.
Turning the boats around will mean many will scuttle the boats and the
passengers and crew will have to be picked up.
There maybe a procedure that as they were passengers on an Indonesian
flagged vessel whose last port of departure was an Indonesian port the
vessel rescuing them should be able to take them back to Indonesia.

I don't know if that is maritime law, but it ought to be.

To scuttle a vessel at sea and place the passengers at risk would be
a capital crime in many countries. Perhaps it should be here.

loobee

'I live in fear and dread of a Tony Abbort led Tory Government in
Canberra, I would be even more more afraid if I were a woman, Abbort
in my view '

be horribly afraid loobee because you can see what a terrible husband and father Tony has been. I mean if he was the 'new age ' emasculated male his daughters might of been able to grow up without a dad and his wife could of joined emily's list. Be very afraid loobee.

That was the only one policy he commented on in a negative way. The NDIS, NBN and others he said were commendable but nobody was listening. Even Turnbull finds it difficult to support the 'turn the boats back' approach. He even said 'if it was safe'. He knows full well it will never be safe especially if the boat is scuttled.

If the LNP really wanted to deter boats they would have agreed to the Malaysia solution. This topic has unfortunately become a political battle ground with little thought to the people drowning. If the ALP cannot get the legislation through they are stuck with the current policy and then the LNP criticises it despite their own lack of real solutions.

The TPVs were not a bad idea and took people out of detention centres but as was discussed eventually the majority of people on TPVs were given citizenship.

Despite Labor's attempts at 'stopping the boats' in this case the LNP chose to sabotage the policy. The LNP stated they were concerned about human rights but this did not stop John Howard from using detention centres or to ignore the problems that arose from those centres as they are also happening now under Labor. It is dirty politics pure and simple.

I personally vote for the shrew to stay on. I want Labor to face the full consequences of its shocking policies, and am not keen to see a bounce in the polls due to Rudd's return and collective amnesia with respect to what a terrible PM he was 3 years ago.

Mark Latham was quite impressive on "Q and A,"
last night. I certainly never imagined that he
would make so much sense. He certainly was spot
on with the workings of the infrastructure of the
Labor Party. And he did make Malcolm Turnbull look
rather foolish with Turnbull's constant espousal of
the Liberal Party line. I guess when you're no longer
in politics you can say what you really think instead
of having to toe the party line. Politics is a dirty
business - and it is a shame that party's can't come
together to achieve better results for the nation.
Who cares whose idea it is/was - if it's a good one
why play politics. No wonder people are so disillusioned
with things at present - and both sides have a great
deal to answer for. As Emerson pointed out - things
are rather good at present despite all the media hype -
but heaven help us if the Opposition really get in.
All they keep doing is telling us what's wrong with
the government. If they get elected - they'll be able
to prove it.

I particularly enjoyed Latham's rubbishing of Labor's border protection policies, and support for the pacific solution.

I think Turnbull's description of turning the boats around, and escorting them to the edge of the 12 Nm territorial limit was sound, and clearly demonstrated that it is entirely possible for the boats to be turned around with or without Indonesia's co operation.