One of the sure signs that a government is in disarray is when cabinet meetings leak like a sieve. Factions pulling in opposite directions disregard cabinet solidarity in the hope that resulting public opinion will force a change of direction.
So - just what is the problem ?
It seems that when Labor won office back in 2007 they were determined to dump John Howard's " Pacific Solution " to curb boat arrivals at Christmas Island, despite that policy being very successful. This haste to scrub every last vestige of the former government's plans from the statute books was taken while they lacked a coherent replacement plan. As a result, naive new measures were introduced - without a careful study of cause and effect.
The result was ongoing disasters, culminating in a crazy plan to swap eight hundred of our new arrivals with Malaysia - in exchange for four thousand of those held in detention in that country. The immediate problem was that Malaysia has a shocking reputation for neglect and refusal of human rights for those who land on their shores as refugees - and this includes caning for any sign of insubordination.
The Australian High court gave this plan the thumbs down - mainly on the basis that Malaysia is not a signatory to the United Nations compact on refugees. Incredibly - our government's response was to try and legislate to move the law to circumvent the powers of our own High court - and this failed.
Any sane person can see a clear option - ready and waiting to resolve this whole mess.
The island of Nauru is eager to accept and process our refugee arrivals - and existing facilities from the Howard era are in place. Nauru would welcome this function because it would deliver badly needed jobs - and they place no restriction on numbers, which is a limitation with the Malaysia deal. Nauru is also willing to sign that United Nations agreement.
Portions of the cabinet have obviously come to the conclusion that switching from Malaysia to Nauru is the only sensible option remaining - but the sheer arrogance of the Prime Minister's faction in refusing to have anything to do with what others may think is a retreat to the policies of the last government is causing the impasse.
In the meantime - we continue to bleed money. Defending the Malaysia/High court drama has just set us back another five million dollars - and there has been absolutely no progress in reaching a solution to the boat people mess.
No wonder the opinion polls are in vertical fall. Wiser heads within the Labor party are ready to grasp the nettle and make a logical decision. Refusal to allow that because it is seen as a loss of face is preventing sanity to prevail.
How long can this be allowed to continue ?
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