Jayb. Nice educated and informative post.

Asylum seekers tricked by navy. Jan 5th
Michael Bachelard,
Thank you for waking me from my ignorance about those boat people asylum seekers. I was under the mistaken belief that they were on the boats because they were tricked by their own people & had to leave their countries.

jodelie: It just so happened that the rescue/Customs vessel ventured slightly into Indonesian waters. Indonesian foreign minister-'Its one thing to turn them back in their own boat, another to transfer them to another and turn them back'.

The Indo Navy & Australian Navy have been co-operating up until now with our Navy moving freely within their 12 Nm limit. This is just a blowhard over the Spying & having their funding cut back, etc. They are negotiating to get more funding in the way of Aid & Concessions. (See Bribery) although Politicians don't call it that, do they? It's the way Indo's do business. All of the Ports I mentioned previously are with-in 2 hours drive of Jakarta. Cilacap has an Airport & so does Pangandaran. Jumping off places. Great surf along that coast by the way, long rides.

As far as giving them new boats. I think that's foolhardy. They'll get confiscated by the people smugglers & sent back out with more queue jumpers.

Indy: Asylum seekers tricked by navy. Jan 5th. Michael Bachelard,

I can't see why that's not kosher, after all they are trying to trick Australia. So I think two should be allowed to play that game. It's only fair. Or, do the Greenies & their Terrorist cohorts think we should play gullible.

I suggest if the Indonesians want a fight we give them one.
If they challenge one of our warships then blow the so and soes out of the water.
Do we really think they would dare to go to war with us.

Dear jayb,

Persistent little fellow aren't we.

Okay mate, illegal?. It is not illegal for a genuine refugee to enter a country without full documentation full stop. I do wish you lot would stop bandying this mis-truth around all the time. It won't make it any truer by touting it repeatedly but boy does it get tiresome.

As to Indonesia and its military purchases yes some did come from Australia but we are hardly the only source.

“Indonesia is reportedly awaiting the delivery of 30 F-16 fighters, a dozen Apache attack helicopters and 103 Leopard battle tanks from the US and Germany, and is purchasing a dozen Russian submarines armed with cruise missiles. Indonesia has also expanded its Marine Corps.”
http://www.news.com.au/national/indonesia-boosts-military-presence-near-australia-and-ramps-up-efforts-to-increase-its-firepower/story-fncynjr2-1226808529340

Why would they want 12 many submarines? Well Australia has 6. Guess they are getting upping the ante.

Anyone else smell an arms race?

It may well be the case that any money we have been spending on refugees is going to be dwarfed by the cash it will take to keep up on armaments. What a dangerous fool our Prime Minister is turning out to be.

Dear Jodelie,

I wasn't outright calling the statement racist but it certainly had a superior tone that might have caused it to be construed as such. Thank you for your tempering words and your explanation. I should have read the post more carefully and some of your earlier submissions before responding as I did. My apologies.

The Saturday Age, January 18th, 2014.

The Editorial reads:

"Immigration Minister Scott Morrison would have us
believe there are several captains of either Royal
Australian Navy or Customs and Border Protection vessels
who get a bit lost at sea. They sail out of Australia's
territorial zone, across international waters, and
"inadvertently" and "Unintentionally" amble in and out
of Indonesian waters. Do they need a compass? Did someone
forget to fit these vessels with a global positioning
system? It is difficult to accept that highly trained and
experienced captains, operating close to sensitive foreign
borders, don't seem to know where they are."

"The government has issued an unconditional apology to
Indonesia after admitting Australian vessels intruded into
their waters while dealing with asylum-seeker boats. These
intrusions occurred not once or twice, mind you, but
several times, and involved more than one vessel..."

"Australians are entitled to ask why and how this has
happened, and they are entitled to genuine answers as opposed
to the stone-walling, secrecy and obfuscation that has
become a hallmark of the Abbott government. As The Age has
said before, governments that lack transparency eventually
lose the trust of the people."

"Mr Morrison says the intrusions were unintentional and in
breach of government policy. Quite simply that suggests
incompetence on a level that we find bewildering or it
lacks credibility. Here we, chest-thumping about a boat
interception and deterence strategy labelled Operation
Sovereign Borders, and we can't even get our own bearings.
These illegal intrusions are the inevitable result of trying
to execute a flawed policy of turning back and now towing
back, boats."

"Mr Morrison does not reveal however the fact that the navy
took cutody of 56 asylum seekers, photographed and interviewed
them over 2 days, then transferred them to a Border Protection
vessel, which held them for a further 3 days. In all, these
asylum seekers were held for five days in Australian custody,
on Australia-flagged vessels, before they were loaded onto an
Australian lifeboat and sent to sea again."

"This is a clear abrogation of our responsibilities under the
UN Convention..."