I’ve just scrolled past several of your posts because, frankly, at this time of the day particularly, they are too long and too tedious to read.

Sorry, but there it is.

Like, say, abolishing the TPV, and closing down the Pacific solution?

I suppose we can only dream, Jack.

I am with the Left-liberals on that and I am certainly no Left-liberal. So I suppose that one is just common sense and decency.

But the notion that Left-liberals far-sighted policies prevented further incidence of people smuggling and drowning sounds like a dream alright.

Like, say, abolishing the TPV, and closing down the Pacific solution?

I suppose we can only dream, Jack.

Always glad to get up your nose, Jack – its normally a good sign I’m on the right track!

You did not “get up my nose”. You teed yourself up for a good smack down. Take that you wrong-headed person!

Nor are you “on the right track” when it comes to proper border control policy. It is possible to craft a policy that deters people smuggling-drowning without resorting to Howard’s heavy-handed tactics. A combination of “good cop bad cop” abroad and at home would probably be best.

Your claim that there is a “new political culture” regarding border protection is flat wrong. A handful extra boats have washed up on our shores and its been front page news for a week or more. Rudd is demonising people smugglers and back-pedalling towards Howard’s policy, as always. This is anything but “new”, its the same old song.

Also, you have completely ignored two basic inconvenient facts, which makes me think you are just crafting a case rather than trying to get to the truth:

– laxer border protection does, ceteris paribus, encourages a certain extra amount of people smuggling and therefore extra people-drowning

– the majority do not like leaky borders under any circumstances. They have their reasons, some of them bad no doubt. But they have good reason too, namely radical distrust of Left-liberals when it comes to anything to do with cultural policy.

Who can blame them?

Lefty E says:

Its no accident there was a massive spike in arrivals after it came in. Sooner or later, some people are going to have to stop swallowing the nonsense they’ve been sold.

Its also “no accident” that people smuggling and people drowning did drop off in 2002, in some part due to some aspects of Howard’s stricter border protection policy. Exactly which bits worked “best and fairest” is a tricky question.

And people smuggling has picked up a bit more than one might expect since Rudd has relaxed control. Again, its difficult to figure out how much of the extra passages are due to push and pull. One cant rule out the latter.

Also the latest incident involving sabotage-arson of a boat on the high seas does indicate that some of those involved in people smuggling are a bad risk. Howard made unkind suggestions to this effect in 2001. No doubt for decencys sake he should have kept his piece. But obviously he had a point.

If Left-liberals spent more time on the issue of border security striking a balance bw the majority rule and minority rights rather than fatuously denouncing “racism” or pricking their ears to imperceptible dog whistles shrieking in the media then they might get somewhere.

If Lefty E is anything to go by they are still stuck in the endless Howard-hating loop. Except now they dont have Howard to kick around anymore. And Rudd is obviously a poor substitute.

Well, if we wanted to take this seriously – we do what Fraser did in the 1970s – assure Indonesia and Malaysia that UNHCR registered refugees will be resettled.

Creating an actual queue stopped the boats coming then.

Howard’s TPV was a joke – see the 32 men arriving today? Under Howard’s family-reunion denying TPV that would have been 32 men, 25 women, and 40 kids.

Anyone who bought that outcome as “protecting our borders” was, and is, a straight-up dill. Its no accident there was a massive spike in arrivals after it came in. Sooner or later, some people are going to have to stop swallowing the nonsense they’ve been sold.

The two factors leading to reduced arrivals were a. a drop-off in refugee numbers (wow) and b. improved co-operation with Indonesia and Malaysia.

General run of opinion as to procedure the govt should follow after sighting of a vessel varies from “the Navy should torpedo ‘em” to “the Air Force should bomb ‘em”