PM's asylum insanity softens our borders

DEPENDING on who is counting, 59 or 61 people-smuggler boats were detected in Australian waters in 2009.On the oceans however, there is literally a flotilla of more small boats making their way here, their passengers encouraged by the Rudd Government's softening of Australia's border protection regime.

This is unprecedented. Normally, there is a lull in the arrivals of illegal boats brought on by the inclement monsoon season from mid-December to March, but intelligence suggests there will be little or no let up. The border protection regime successfully implemented by the Howard government has been destroyed by the Rudd Government, which moved in August, 2008, or more than 69 boats ago, to tear down the structures which had worked so well to deter people smuggling and prevent people taking unacceptable risk to reach Australian waters. Displaying a profound ignorance of the delicate mechanics of people smuggling, the Rudd Government abolished the Howard government's Pacific Solution and provided no satisfactory equivalent. Rudd, who prides himself on the limited diplomatic experience he garnered as a third secretary, went on to shred Australia's ties with Indonesia with his intervention in the treatment of undocumented arrivals rescued by the Pacific Viking after apparently sabotaging their vessel, and in the case of another boatload of Tamils about whom he personally spoke to the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Rudd has still given no satisfactory explanation of his actions, of why he chose to ignore the various ministers and agencies responsible for people smuggling and refugees and why he attempted to impose a political fix to a policy conundrum of his own making. While Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor continues to bleat that the Indonesians are now responsible for the 250 people aboard a stinking vessel in Merak, the reality is that they would not be there had Rudd not urged the Indonesians to intervene. One passenger has now died and a child is ill, suffering from the same medical problem, and the Rudd Government is feebly insisting it is not responsible, even though Rudd personally guaranteed the special deal which saw the Pacific Viking passengers swiftly moved out of Indonesia. There is no doubt that Rudd's insistence on personally micro-managing this issue has made it greatly worse. While people smuggling remains a huge operational issue, politically Rudd has stuffed up big time. The Christmas Island detention centre which Labor used to claim was a major ``white elephant'' when it was constructed by the Howard government is now full to overflowing and it is only due to the foresight of the previous government that there is sufficient space within its confines to install the temporary dwellings and erect the tents necessary to house the new arrivals. Offshore processing was used by the Howard government to send a very strong symbolic message to people smugglers and their clients that the best way to come to Australia was through the front door, but with the rapid turnover and the removal of boat people to the mainland, that message has been severely weakened. As shadow minister for immigration and citizenship Scott Morrison points out, even those people who were aboard a vessel that was deliberately set alight with the loss of three lives and injuries to others, including defence force personnel, have been brought to Australia, even though there has been no report on the incident released by any government agency and the matter remains open. The pro-refugee media lobby has been strangely silent. It worked hard to get the Rudd Government elected and now looks increasingly foolish for taking such a partisan position on this issue. Due to their efforts, the Rudd Government has presided over more deaths and has encouraged a greater resurgence of people smuggling than most would have thought possible when examining the successful reduction in illegal boat arrivals brought about by the Howard government's policies. People smugglers and asylum seekers are running their own agenda and Rudd has relegated the Australian Navy and Customs to little more than a water taxi operation, ensuring those who want to enter by the back door do so with minimum inconvenience. Rudd's special deals have undercut the policies and politics of the region, his actions have handed control of our borders to those who want to penetrate them with a minimum of scrutiny. Rudd has been greatly assisted by the refugee and people-smugglers lobby in the Australian media which is assisting in creating the fiction that people smuggling is a routine activity. No phony normalisation of this evil trade by the Rudd Government and its media allies should be allowed to distract attention from the weakening of our nation's borders. If a seasonal lull should occur in the boat traffic, be assured that Rudd will claim it as evidence that his policies are bearing fruit. Don't be conned. It will only be momentary, the word is out, our borders are open.