<<I'm also curious as to why these people would flee, solely reliant on cramped unsafe vessels to make their way here. It certainly smacks more of desperation...>>

Cripes, by that measure there must be lots of desperates out there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S5FLbT_a7c

Poirot, "I'm also curious as to why these people would flee, solely reliant on cramped unsafe vessels to make their way here."

Where is the evidence that all, or even most of the are cramped and unsafe? Sure some may be. It suited the editorial slant of the publicly-funded national broadcaster to present it that way in the sensationalised productions made about boat people. Productions which inexplicably did not discover what has been proved, that boat people are largely economic migrants.

In fact from the photos of some of the vessels they are well representative of the craft that fishermen have used for centuries, and to visit Australia. Anyone doubting that should look at photos of the fishing boats caught taking illegal catch on the Great Barrier Reef and in other Australian waters. It is also worthwhile remembering that Australian fishermen use boats of similar and lesser size to trawl prawns and for other fishing. Australian fishermen use old boats too and they are used in the dangerous Southern ocean.

Where people smugglers differ is in their business model, people not fish, and they do try to maximise profits. They are criminals and criminals do not obey laws or care about others.

Poirot, "It certainly smacks more of desperation than a luxury cruise'

They have taken a jet plane into Indonesia, so your point is?

You are calling Kevin Rudd and his foreign minister Carr liars. But what is their motivation and where is your proof?

Merely an observation, onthebeach.

I'm quite happy to admit that I know little of the machinations involved in the exodus.

I do believe, however, that either side believing it can grab those boats by the scruff of the neck and return them to point of departure while bobbing about on the high seas is fairyland stuff.

With a challenge such as this, governments are required to go to the source of the problem and find a solution in the first instance - not the last.

I was reading some figures regarding refugees which gave the numbers in Malaysia at over 200,000 and ours around 30,000. There's a diaspora occurring for whatever reason...something common among humans intermittently.

Telling them to F... Off because we're full and making noises about "turning them around" is merely flailing in the wind.

@Poirot,

<< I was reading some figures regarding refugees which gave the numbers in Malaysia at over 200,000>>

Yes, well, the leftwing rags that you tend to read would say that.

But point No.1
Most in Malaysia are NOT refugees by any stretch of the imagination, they're simple illegals seeking work opportunities --or economic migrants in transit to OZ.

And point No.2
How many of those "refugees" does Malaysia grant full and permanent citizenship, with all the trimmings, to each year--any idea? hint: you'll only need one hand to count!

My point being, SPQR, that refugees/migrants from the Middle-East and North Africa are in the hundreds of thousands in Europe and other parts -

Australia receives a trickle of the overall amount.

Again, just an observation.

Many would say that the design and sea-keeping of those Indonesian timber fishing vessels make them superior to the hull designs we use. They surprise us with their hull speeds (hull efficiency) too.

The West has kept to traditions, as has the East, but we don't have the skills, timber and cheap labour to build what they do. Many of our private luxury yachts are made in Asia and those boat builders are famous world-wide. Would that we had their inherited tradition of craftmanship.

The media are clueless and a navy captain would likely not class even a modern 102 metre Cape Class patrol boat as true 'ocean going'. Over-crowded as required by the greed of people smugglers, a Cape Class patrol boat would be criticised as cramped and unsafe too.