Seems the Abbott government has come up with a new asylum seeker policy. Indeed, it could prove a real financial winner for the enterprising criminals who profit from the disgusting trade of smuggling desperate asylum seekers to Australia, figures of $5,000 to $6,000 for each scum bucket has been thrown around. Not only do these pirates of the high seas profit from the payments made by their human cargo, they nay also now be on Abbott's payroll. Abbott has been ducking and weaving when confronted with the question of our Government actually paying these criminals a bonus to conduct ocean cruises with desperate people on board, around the Timor Sea, then return their human cargo from whence it come, or some other place, not that Abbott would much care. The ducking and weaving by Abbott is a dead set give away that the story is true. How do others on the forum feel about their tax dollars being paid to these low life criminals?

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-refuses-to-say-whether-australia-paid-people-smugglers-20150612-ghmo9v.html

Well, it is immoral to pay others to hurt and cheat.

Relatively however, it is not as immoral as the other things the Australian government is doing in that regard, such as actively stopping boats on the high seas and arresting the people in them: that is even worse - that is true piracy, not what the people-smugglers are doing, which is "merely" theft and fraud.

The courageous and moral solution is for Australia to withdraw from the refugee convention, whose spirit it doesn't intend to keep anyway.

Withdrawing from the convention would enable Australia to allow refugees who do somehow manage to arrive at its shores to be here, but without giving them any social handouts or a legal status as the convention requires. This in turn will drastically reduce the number of arrivals, especially of economic migrants, without the need for criminal behaviour near Indonesian shores in which the Australian government currently engages.

Paul,
Asylum seekers lie about this sort of thing all the time, remember the false accusations of cruelty and torture made against RAN personnel? Boat people are in the main criminals on the run, desperate certainly but their testimony can be taken with a grain of salt.
Has it ever crossed your mind that even if the ship's companies involved in the return were paid by Border Force agents that they may have been legitimate contractors hired from an Indonesian port to ferry the passengers back to their point of departure and not "people smugglers"? After all the boat people claimed they were apprehended, transferred to a customs vessel for four days and then embarked on different vessels for their return journey, it sounds to me like a legitimate arrangement. That would also explain the secrecy on the part of the government, they would need to protect the identities of the contractors lest they be targeted by the gangsters and corrupt officials who run the smuggling routes.

Dear Paul,

The Immigration Minister has denied it.
The Foreign Affairs Minister has also denied it.
The Prime Minister has refused to either deny or
confirm it. So it's a ripe old mess.

Should we pay people smugglers?
Of course not!
That would be insane.
It would encourage more boats - as it would become
a business model. The people smugglers could then
buy new boats, transport more people - knowing
that they'd be making money not only from the
poor desperate boat people they're transporting
but from the Australian government as well.
For the people smugglers it would be a never-ending
source of money and a win-win situation.
For Australia - it would be a disaster.
It would also affect our relationship with Indonesia -
who is currently asking for explanations from our
government.

What a stuff up - all round.
But not answering questions about this matter does not
help. The voters deserve answers as does the Indonesian
government.

I would say, that as it is going to cost Oz taxpayers at least $50,000 each, up front for each gate crashing illegal that makes it to Oz, it is a bargain.

In fact, in view of the proven long term cost of keeping these gate crashers on welfare, a hundred thousand dollars for each one stopped would be damn good value.

Of course we must not train people smugglers to see this as a new business opportunity, & we most definitely must not worry the sensibilities of our greens. Their constitutions are not able to handle too much of the real world. After life with the fairies at the bottom of the garden, these facts of life in the real world are a bit hard for them to handle.

Hasbeen,

"Of course we must not train people smugglers to see this as a new business opportunity..."

Like dangling $$$ their way?....in the vicinity of "... a hundred thousand dollars for each one stopped"...which...."would be damn good value."

This is Abbott's best debacle yet - and even the likes of Hasbeen can't decide quite how to defend it.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/indonesian-police-chief-hidayat-confirms-wads-of-cash-paid-to-people-smugglers-20150614-ghn9et.html

"Fairfax Media is aware of the contents of a detailed official report submitted to the Indonesian National Police in Jakarta, who are now also investigating the incident, and has seen photographs of stacks of $US100 bills allegedly paid to the boat crew.

The report outlines claims by the boat's captain, Yohanis Humiang, that an Australian official gave each of the six crew members $US5000 on the condition they never engage in people smuggling again."

"Another source showed Fairfax Media a photograph of six stacks of $US100 bills with the serial numbers and names of the people who were supposed to receive the money. The photo forms part of the report to the National Police.

The crew asked for the money be sent to their villages but for now it is still at Rote police station."