OUR SAY: Looking for an answer to offshore detention

YESTERDAY’S High Court decision confirming the Federal Government’s right to use offshore detention might have win but it’s not clear if it will be easier

The Daily Examiner editor David Moase.

YESTERDAY'S High Court decision confirming the Federal Government's right to use offshore detention might have been a legal win but it's not clear if it will make life any easier for the Coalition.

In handing victory to the government, the High Court's ruling also focussed attention on the confronting number of people, particularly the number of children, languishing in detention.

Offshore processing may be allowed to continue, and seems to have proven successful in slowing the amount of would-be asylum seekers (the lack of information given about boat arrivals makes it hard to be sure of its effectiveness), but what the government lacks is the next step in finding an acceptable solution.

It clearly has little idea what to do with those in detention.

The people detained understandably don't want to go home, and re-settlement agreements with a few Asian countries aren't enough to make a dent in the numbers behind razor wire.

The argument has been repeated often enough that no-one who comes here by boat will be allowed to settle in Australia, so that remains a non-starter, leaving the government with very few viable alternatives.

Until that next step is found, Malcolm Turnbull and his team will remain under pressure on this front, both at home and overseas.

Originally published as OUR SAY: Looking for an answer to offshore detention