Ever since the Rudd government came into power one of the wedge points of Australian politics has been the constant barrage of asylum seekers we’ve had rock up.

Thus far the Rudd government have proven to be seemingly incapable of doing anything other then increasing our capacity on Christmas Island to hold boat people. I guess the millions the Rudd government spent on the hardline approach of deterring asylum seekers via street theatre, advertising banners and church notices mustn’t have worked.

Now well aware that this is shaping up to be a big election issue and with a federal election required to be held sometime over the next twelve months, today the Rudd government has announced that it is suspending any and all asylum claims of people from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

…the problem is we’re not turning them back or discouraging them, we’re just suspending their claims.

The first thing that needs to be asked is whether this a clear admission by the Rudd government that the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers that come here from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are simply economic opportunists. I mean if they were legitimate desperate asylum seekers then the flood gates would remain open would they not?

After bending over backwards It’s not like Labor to turn it’s back on the hard done desperados that come to Australia by boat.

Instead of just admitting you’re being bent over and taken advantage of it’s simply far easier to just suspend processing. Unless of course somebody else has a better reason?

The second point of concern is the fact that the suspension is in effect for a minimum of three months for Sri Lanka and six for Afghanistan. However during this time

all illegal immigrants/asylum seekers/economic opportunists “irregular” maritime arrivals would continue to be taken to Christmas Island, where people would be treated humanely.


Apparently Senator Evans believes the upside of this policy is that

The changes we’re announcing today send a strong message to people smugglers that they cannot guarantee a visa outcome for their clients.


What needs to be addressed is that the current revolving door eligibility criteria have not been changed. This is the same criteria that, by the government’s own admission above, people smugglers have used to “guarantee a visa outcome for their clients”.

All we’ve done now is given people smugglers the extra selling point of still being able to guarantee a visa outcome in a few months, but in the meantime also guarantee 5 star accommodation, clothing and three square meals a day.

Why would you continue to prop yourself up with your own money in a hovel in Indonesia when you could just jump on a boat and be looked after for a few months in luxury?

The Christmas Island detention facility has long been overcrowded and currently illegal immigrants are spilling over onto the Australian mainland. Recent running cost estimates for the facility before the visa application suspension were put at $257 million AUD this year alone, more then double the original estimate. With each new arrival costing $75,000 to “process and accommodate“, a new mandatory accommodation period for new arrivals set at three to six months one can only wonder just how high the taxpayer bill will  climb this year.

With the revolving door process halted and hundreds of new arrivals arriving weekly it should be an interesting and costly few months ahead for the Australian taxpayer.

I for one am certainly glad I’m not directly funding this nonsense of a border protection plan anymore.

1. Sri Lankan & Afghans return fire over visa suspensions
2. So who lied to the Oceanic Viking asylum seekers?
3. 99.6% of boat people are asylum seeker scammers
4. Asylum seekers cut costs: "Please come and get us"
5. Australia lowers asylum criteria to accept arsonists