Julia Gillard is desperate to remove the " boat people " as an issue so that she can call a quick election. Her timing was way off when she announced that East Timor would be the evaluation centre - before it's prime minister had done more than agree to consider the proposal - and before the president had been even consulted.
East Timor owed Australia a few favours for it's help in gaining independence from Indonesia - and it's leaders would bend over backwards to help - but dumping our rejects on their doorstep is unlikely to meet with wide public approval there.
Basically, Julia Gillard has simply rebadged John Howards " Pacific Solution " - and claimed it as her own plan.
The sad thing is that just the facility she has in mind presently exists in Nauru - bought and paid for by the Australian taxpayer - and it has wide support from the Nauru population because it provides an income to a poverty stricken island nation - and work for it's citizens.
The problem is politics ! The Gillard solution must be clearly different from the Howard plan - and sending boat arrivals to Nauru would be too close an association.
If East Timor ends up declining the offer, Gillard may have no choice other than Nauru - in which case she may insist that Nauru adopt a change of name so that the Howard connection is obliterated.
It doesn't seem to matter which party is in power - or who sits in the prime minister's chair - dodging the issue and bending the rules replaces logic in finding solutions.
It's called - politics !
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