It's "Un-Australian !"

The High court has given a ruling that it would be illegal, because of  our obligations under the Migration Act to send boat people to Malaysia.   The government proposes to legislate to change the Migration Act to remove those human rights implications - and abandon the stance this country took over half a century ago.

The problem is that unless we find a way to control the numbers seeking entry to this country the present trickle arriving by people smuggler's boats will become a cascade beyond our capacity to absorb.

At the end of the second world war we opened our doors to the displaced of Europe on the basis of a " populate or perish " philosophy.    Australia was just too big to defend with it's tiny population at that time - and immigration has served us well.

We now number just over twenty-two million people and to maintain our way of life we need to control the number of new arrivals to maintain balance in jobs, housing and social services.   To throw our principles overboard and turn our backs on the obligations that we have given to the world body would simply be un-Australian !

We need to bite the bullet and accept that High court ruling with dignity.   We are legally stuck with accepting migrants and processing them in Australia, but that does not mean that we are obliged to accept everyone who sets foot on our shores.

Yes - We need a change of legislation.   We need to define just who is and who is not acceptable because they fear persecution in their former country and we need to define what constitutes an illegal trying to force entry here for economic reasons.

Along with that, we need a law change to allow such a decision to be made quickly - and without countless appeals and legal moves to delay removal from this country.    The quickest way to stop the appeal of the people smugglers is to institute a regime that makes a quick decision - and if the result is negative - removes that person promptly back to from whence they have come.

We are trying to fix the problem from the wrong end.    Instead of preventing arrivals, we would be better to process the applicant and reform the law to prevent hordes of people languishing for years in detention centres.    It may seem cruel and heartless to process a migrant in a matter of thirty days - and deport the rejects within another thirty days, but in the real world that is what it takes to clean up this migration mess - and it is a lot less cruel than simply dumping them in Malaysia.

By all means change the law - but not in the Un-Australian way being considered.   Clean up our migration rules so that a decision is just that.    No fancy lawyers exploiting all manner of farcical and illogical appeals - and a one-way ticket out of this country once that decision has been made.

That is the sure - and legal - way to stop the boats !