warmair,

What you regard as a triumph for diversity, ie., the large proportion of medical staff from overseas working in Australian hospitals, is actually:

- a calamity for Australia, where deserving Aussie medical science graduates cannot get their placements in teaching hospitals to complete their training and become doctors. Because hospitals cooperate with universities and reserve places for the lucrative industry training international students who duly get citizenship as part of the bargain; and,

- a calamity too for the undeveloped countries whose doctors and other medical staff are poached by Australia and are not available to provide much needed medical services in their home (ie the losing) countries.

One would imagine that most people by now would be awake up to the very short-sighted federal government policies by both sides of government that do not value Australia's best and brightest. It has been that way for many years now, all rhetoric about investment in education and training youth, but the reality is otherwise.

Then dupes come along to claim the deficiencies as a benefit, a dividend in 'diversity'! Next, there will be a department of diversity and the easily-led will lap it all up, all the while wondering why Australian youth so not have jobs and nor do their parents.

The standards in Australian universities are reported to be slipping because the income from international students is so lucrative that universities lower their standards for them. Then the federal government gives them citizenship. That is diversity in action.

I see an interesting phenomenon here,

Since I pointed out that the vast majority of these boat people were not refugees as defined in the Charter, but economic migrants, and someone else pointed out that this is taking place 4000+ miles from our borders, I have seen the bleeding hearts try to re define these economic migrants as refugees.

As probably a 1000 or more have already lost their lives, it is clear that the human trafficking that robs the poor and kills thousands needs not to be encouraged but stopped.

Shadow Minister,
On the BBC yesterday they were interviewing the people released from the jungle camps in Thailand and this story goes so much deeper than people fleeing "persecution". The people caught up in this are all economic migrants, the way the system works is that they pay a middleman to introduce them to the smugglers, the smugglers are then supposed to transport them to a "better life". What's been happening however is that the smuggling gangs have been detaining the migrants in camps out in the wilderness and holding them to ransom, raping and murdering them. When the Thai Police raided those camps and rescued the captives it closed off one smuggling route but the smugglers, the middlemen and the district officials on their payroll were not apprehended and their illegal operations are largely unaffected.
The report included commentary from other experts, the UNHCR, people involved in trans national policing etc and the conclusion was that this human trafficking (ie slavery) business model is so deeply embedded in the Third World cultures that it will never be eradicated, every smuggler or corrupt official who is removed from the trade is immediately replaced by a new "up and comer".
The criminal gangs aren't one entity like the "Mafia" or even what you'd describe as a Hydra with many heads, it's a culture all on it's own and the players are involved in all manner of illegal activity, drug dealing, gun running, prostitution, gambling, supply of illegal labour and these bait and switch "refugee" scams. Many of us have been to Asia and seen how poor people live but the smugglers and gangsters and just the general Asian mindset of selfishness and lack of regard for others are responsible for this so called "persecution".

Yuyutsu, grow up, is that the best you can do, racial slurs and casting aspersions? Of course it's the fault always lies with the child taking the drug, not the drug dealers...I mean really, that shows the mentality of the Left.

Three obligations – omitting ANY is ducking an issue vital to a decent Australia.

Rescue the desperate (running for their lives)
Protect Australia from spongers, shunners[1] and Fifth Columnists
Regulate numbers according to intake capacity

[1] People who shun integration for ethnic solidarity

Anyone claim a case for ducking any of these three?

If not, what's to argue about?

Emperor Julian,

Do you seriously expect us to believe that the quadrupling of Syria's population since 1960 (when they were self-sufficient in food) has absolutely nothing to do with the unrest that has led to their present predicament and the resulting refugee flows? That it is all just "Malthusian claptrap".

The situation is similar in Egypt, where the population has tripled over the same period. Again, they were self-sufficient in food in 1960. As the population grew, the government used the revenue from oil exports to subsidize cheap food for the consumer. Now the oil is mostly gone, and the situation is being propped up by massive foreign aid. The first Arab Spring protestors there were calling for bread and freedom, but bread came first. See

http://www.resilience.org/stories/2011-02-10/egypts-warning-are-you-listening

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/01/protesting_on_an_empty_stomach.html

High fertility rates are far from the only problem in such countries, your "crap societies", but refusing to address them will obviously make every other cause a lost cause in the end. Do the math. Trying to solve their problems by taking people in is like trying to bail out the sea with a sieve.

Hi there ONTHEBEACH...

Thanks for that link concerning statements attributed to Philip ADAMS, now an elderly gentleman, even further to the 'left' as he approaches his inevitable retirement !

A funny thing though, years ago in the city, I was making enquiries concerning several counts of 'larceny as a servant', and I had occasion to speak with none other, than our Mr ADAMS who I should add wasn't in any way, remotely connected with the crime ?

Anyway, we spoke for nearly 20 - 25 minutes, and I found him to be a very nice, personable sort of bloke, in fact quite different to how you'd perceive him to be, having only heard him on ABC Radio ? He was intensely polite, most co-operative, and I was left with the impression, he was one pretty intelligent sort of bloke, without possessing any air of superiority about him ?

Thanks again ONTHEBEACH.