A desperate measure !

Kevin Rudd knew he had to offer the Australian voters a plausible solution to the flood of asylum seekers reaching Christmas island - if he is to have any hope of resurrecting Labor's fortunes at the coming election.

What he is implementing will most likely have the desired effect, but at a cost that may come back to haunt us in the years ahead.

Papua New Guinea is our nearest neighbour - and it is totally reliant on Australian aid to keep it's financial head above water.   The look on Papua New Guinea's prime minister's face when he virtually handed Rudd a blank cheque to send an unlimited number of refugees to Manus island - said it all !

Papua New Guinea is a country still virtually living in the stone age.  It has a GDP of a mere $ 1844, Life expectancy is just 62.8 years, Adult literacy is 57% - and the murder rate of 13 in 100,000 people compares with just 1.3 for Australia.

This is a poor, under developed country with it's own ethnic tensions and even if this measure does stop the boats, those already on the water and the time needed for the message to sink in means that Manus island is going to receive thousands of people from Afghanistan, Iran. Pakistan, Sudan, Sri Lanka - and Vietnam !     The largest contingent will be men, but the influx will also include women and children.

You can be sure that this will attract the attention of the world media and Australia will be spending somewhere north of a billion dollars to create the facilities to house these people.

Kevin Rudd has used Australia's financial muscle to strong arm our neighbour for his own political gain.   His only concern is the impression it creates in the minds of the voters in the weeks that remain until they put pen to paper in a voting booth.

If Manus island then turns to tragedy it will do so in the full glare of world  publicity.   Australia will have washed it's hands of responsibility for our rejects - and Pap NG is not equipped to deal with a problem of that magnitude.

From a political point of view, this is a smart move.   It is also a desperate measure - and one that may go down in history as something that makes Australians cringe when the full after effects play out on the world stage !