I firmly believe that the influx of illegal immigrants that we are experiencing is due to Rudd and Gillard's dismantling of John Howard's highly successful Pacific Solution and the ALP's lack of any competent policy in its place. But that's just me. Who do YOU think is to blame for this mess?

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 8:37am:

Who do YOU think is to blame for this mess?

K Rudd.

salad in wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 9:22am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 8:37am: Who do YOU think is to blame for this mess? K Rudd.

AND GIZZARD   >:(

Rudd and Gillard removed a working Coalition policy and replaced it with a failed one.
Then to compound the stupidity, then wait until the situation is out of control before doing 'something' which has turned out to be nothing.

not much point in a blame game do you think?... the damage is done..so many dying and so many given false hopes.. its wrong and a disaster buts whats done is done..

they can all go off on their holidays living in hope it will all go away whilst they are gone.

its disgraceful..and its a shame the country isnt put first and foremost for a change.

to my miond they had no right pizzzzzing off until this was sorted.

cods wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 9:30am:

not much point in a blame game do you think?... the damage is done..so many dying and so many given false hopes.. its wrong and a disaster buts whats done is done.. they can all go off on their holidays living in hope it will all go away whilst they are gone. its disgraceful..and its a shame the country isnt put first and foremost for a change. to my miond they had no right pizzzzzing off until this was sorted.

Probably no point at all, considering the fault for the removal of the Coalitions former working border protection policy lays cemented firmly at Labors feet.
However, the 'piper' is yet to be paid by Labor for this massive policy bungle, and wont be until the next election.
The real question is how many more will die because of Labor's wreckless policy vandalism.

chicken_lipsforme wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 9:55am:

cods wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 9:30am: not much point in a blame game do you think?... the damage is done..so many dying and so many given false hopes.. its wrong and a disaster buts whats done is done.. they can all go off on their holidays living in hope it will all go away whilst they are gone. its disgraceful..and its a shame the country isnt put first and foremost for a change. to my miond they had no right pizzzzzing off until this was sorted. Probably no point at all, considering the fault for the removal of the Coalitions former working border protection policy lays cemented firmly at Labors feet. However, the 'piper' is yet to be paid by Labor for this massive policy bungle, and wont be until the next election. The real question is how many more will die because of Labor's wreckless policy vandalism.

Am I the only person who sees the irony in Labors attempts to be seen as more humanitarian in dismantling the Pacific Solution, only to have hundreds, if not thousands, of people die during voyages in leaky people smuggling boats?

To fix the problem of influx of refugees you take a two pronged approach.

1) You engage in their starting countries to remove the regimes that are causing them to leave - be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran etc.

2) If you do accept there will be refugees you make it as difficult as possible for them to come to your country. You make your place a less attractive option if you like.

So by dismantling the controls put in by John Howard, the Labor Government did partially create this problem.

What needs to be done is remove a lot of the benefits asylum seekers would be entitled, mandatory detain them for long period, do not allow in their families or children - so they know they can't get them in.

Just make things difficult.

You fix the push problem and you remedy the pull problem.

The immediate border problem pertaining to stopping country shopper falls squarely on the shoulders of Kevin 07 and the beer garden troll, but the overall failure of border protection is all the politicians fault both Labor & Liberal past and present.

Australia needs to stop portraying itself as a "raggedy Ann" doll who takes it up the arse in not protecting its own borders against foreign thieves, and for once in its gutless life take a stand and do something beside whinge and whine.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 10:02am:

chicken_lipsforme wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 9:55am: cods wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 9:30am: not much point in a blame game do you think?... the damage is done..so many dying and so many given false hopes.. its wrong and a disaster buts whats done is done.. they can all go off on their holidays living in hope it will all go away whilst they are gone. its disgraceful..and its a shame the country isnt put first and foremost for a change. to my miond they had no right pizzzzzing off until this was sorted. Probably no point at all, considering the fault for the removal of the Coalitions former working border protection policy lays cemented firmly at Labors feet. However, the 'piper' is yet to be paid by Labor for this massive policy bungle, and wont be until the next election. The real question is how many more will die because of Labor's wreckless policy vandalism. Am I the only person who sees the irony in Labors attempts to be seen as more humanitarian in dismantling the Pacific Solution, only to have hundreds, if not thousands, of people die during voyages in leaky people smuggling boats?

Not at all.
Had Labor made those policy changes in 2008 which reduced boat arrivals even further, could have earn't them the respect and cudos that has since eluded them for so long after the euphoria of Rudd's historic election win.
Who knows, Turnbull could have even been leader of the Opposition for an even longer period had that occurred as a party can forgive a leader to a certain degree who has difficulty in making headway over a good Government.
But not to make headway over an incompetent one is unforgivable, and Turnbull paid the price.
But for them to make those initial changes, and compound the subsequent issue that has been created through continual inaction borders on being criminal.
And to announce to the world Labors plans and intentions over and over again prior to any agreements being signed borders on gross stupidity of the highest order.
If Gillard was a professional poker player, she would be homeless and on the street by now.

chicken_lipsforme wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 12:27pm:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 10:02am: chicken_lipsforme wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 9:55am: cods wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 9:30am: not much point in a blame game do you think?... the damage is done..so many dying and so many given false hopes.. its wrong and a disaster buts whats done is done.. they can all go off on their holidays living in hope it will all go away whilst they are gone. its disgraceful..and its a shame the country isnt put first and foremost for a change. to my miond they had no right pizzzzzing off until this was sorted. Probably no point at all, considering the fault for the removal of the Coalitions former working border protection policy lays cemented firmly at Labors feet. However, the 'piper' is yet to be paid by Labor for this massive policy bungle, and wont be until the next election. The real question is how many more will die because of Labor's wreckless policy vandalism. Am I the only person who sees the irony in Labors attempts to be seen as more humanitarian in dismantling the Pacific Solution, only to have hundreds, if not thousands, of people die during voyages in leaky people smuggling boats? Not at all. Had Labor made those policy changes in 2008 which reduced boat arrivals even further, could have earn't them the respect and cudos that has since eluded them for so long after the euphoria of Rudd's historic election win. Who knows, Turnbull could have even been leader of the Opposition for an even longer period had that occurred as a party can forgive a leader to a certain degree who has difficulty in making headway over a good Government. But not to make headway over an incompetent one is unforgivable, and Turnbull paid the price. But for them to make those initial changes, and compound the subsequent issue that has been created through continual inaction borders on being criminal. And to announce to the world Labors plans and intentions over and over again prior to any agreements being signed borders on gross stupidity of the highest order. If Gillard was a professional poker player, she would be homeless and on the street by now.

Wont be long now   ;D ;D

Why does corporate_whitey want to fense us all in and control all of the worlds natural resources for himself.  You even require a licence to tajke a fishing pole to the pier, meanwhile corporate greed dredges mountains of fish out of the oceans for the exclusive profits of the 1%.  Where is Gandhi when you need him?
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/salt-march-1.jpgThe Food, the water, the seeds, the land and the salt belongs to the people, not to the Greens and not to corporate Greed - you may not bar us from access to it.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 8:37am:

I firmly believe that the influx of illegal immigrants that we are experiencing is due to Rudd and Gillard's dismantling of John Howard's highly successful Pacific Solution and the ALP's lack of any competent policy in its place. But that's just me. Who do YOU think is to blame for this mess?

I agree with you.

Labor stuffed things as they always do..... :(

There was no problem till the Liberals found they could gain political ground by exploiting it.

Dnarever wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 3:30pm:

There was no problem till the Liberals found they could gain political ground by exploiting it.

Are you saying that there is no problem with hundreds of boats coming ear year? Also, what was it that Gillard said of the Howard government prior to setting up the Pacific Solution? Oh, that's right - she said that every boat that arrived was a demonstration of Howard's failure to create a policy that worked. Guess what - he had a policy that worked prior to being voted out and she dismantled it! Now who's the failure? That's right - Gillard is.

Kevin Rudd has seen the light and now recognizes he has sinned and he begs for forgiveness from his beloved constituents.

Kevin Rudd has received counseling for his remiss conditions and is now ready, like a flaming phoenix, to rise again and lead his beloved Labor to a resounding victory at the next election.

Kevin Rudd is promising Miss Gillard an ambassadorial posting at Antarctica, which with global worming, will soon be a tropical paradise.

http://www.koolrpix.com/images/TF05257/240/wb047967.gif

What's that again?  ;D ;D

I thought you'd like that as Kevin 12 is the smiling face Australians want to see on the TV again.

RACIST PROPAGANDA BREEDS ANTHRAX!

WELCOME TO THE HELL WE BRED PEOPLE!!

DON'T ACT ALL INNOCENT: STAND UP AND SAY SOMETHING OR SUFFER YOUR OWN INHUMANITY!!!

:'( :'( :'( :'( :o :-? :-? >:( :( :( :( :(

Could Australians catch anthrax from illegals who have been crawling around in Indonesia which might have some anthrax hanging around or what about rabies ?

You may have heard about anthrax and wondered what it is. Some people are worried that the germ that causes anthrax could be spread and used as a weapon. Although this is a frightening thought, the government and police are working on ways to protect us.

In the meantime, it's important not to panic over anthrax — the chance that you or someone in your family could ever get it is very small. One of the ways you can feel better is to learn about the disease. When you know what it is and how you can get it, it doesn't seem quite as scary.

So here are answers to some questions you might have about anthrax:

What is anthrax?
Anthrax is an infection caused by bacteria (a type of germ) called Bacillus anthracis (say: buh-sil-us an-thray-sus). These bacteria make spores, a form of the germ covered by a protective shell. The spores can live for years in the soil, and they cause anthrax when they enter the body. Although the disease is most common in farm animals — like sheep, cows, and goats — there's a small chance that people can get it as well, usually from some type of contact with an animal or part of an animal that had anthrax.
How do people get anthrax?
People can get anthrax if they are exposed to the spores. (Exposed means that a germ that can cause disease is found in the same place that you are — like in the same room — where it could come into direct contact with your body.) But here's the important part: Just being exposed to these spores doesn't mean that people will get sick.

To get sick, people would have to have contact with the spores in one of three very specific ways: they would have to breathe thousands of these spores all the way into their lungs; they would have to eat meat that had spores in it (meat that spreads anthrax comes from animals that were infected with the bacteria and usually is not cooked fully); or they would have to handle something with spores on it and get spores in cuts on their skin.

This may sound scary, but even when people come into contact with the spores it's unlikely that they will get sick. If the bacteria do not get into the skin, digestive tract, or lungs, the disease will not develop.
Is anthrax contagious?
Anthrax is not contagious, which means it does not spread from person to person the way the flu can spread between family members or classmates.
How is anthrax treated?
Anthrax can often be successfully treated with antibiotics (medicine that kills bacteria).
Should I worry about anthrax?
Anthrax is very rare. In the fall of 2001, a few people became infected with anthrax after someone used letters in the mail to spread the spores that cause the disease. Although this was scary, only a few people became sick and the police have been working hard to stop anything like that from happening again. A person's chance of getting anthrax from spores that someone spreads or from any type of contact with an infected animal is very, very low.
If you're still worried about anthrax, remember that you, your family, and your friends will probably never be exposed to anthrax spores. Talking to your teacher or parent may make you feel better and give you answers to any other questions about anthrax.

Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD

http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/infection/anthrax.html

How long will it be before 1 or more of the illegal middle eastern invading bludgers invited here by the irresponsible Miss Gillard brings the deadly rabies virus into Australia ?

Health experts say Australia must brace for rabies arrival from Indonesia
BY: ANDY DREWITT From: The Australian January 03, 2012 12:00AM

A rabies epidemic in Bali has killed 130 people. Now 275,000 half-wild dogs are being vaccinated.

EXPERTS battling a rabies epidemic in Bali are warning Australians to brace for the arrival of the disease.

Rabies is island-hopping towards Australia through the Indonesian archipelago and is about 600km north of Darwin on the island of Pulau Larat, where it killed 19 people in 2010.

Helen Scott Orr, a former NSW chief veterinary officer working with the Indonesian government to help eradicate rabies from Bali, said the risk to Australia was increasing as more Indonesian islands fell to the disease.

Rabies has spread to 24 of Indonesia's 33 provinces.

"If it gets into West Papua, it is strongly likely that it will spread slowly and inexorably down through the entire island of Papua New Guinea, in which case it would be extremely close to our borders across the Torres Strait," Dr Scott Orr said.

"We don't know if the threat will be there in one year, in five years, in 10 years, or in 20 years -- it's just a likelihood that the threat will come."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry -- which oversees the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy -- said rabies outbreaks on the Indonesian islands of Flores, Bali, Pulau Larat and Ambon had increased the risk of the disease entering Australia.

She said the "most likely potential pathway into remote northern Australia is an illegally imported, infected animal arriving by boat".

She said the department was controlling border movements of animals across the Torres Strait, increasing surveillance of animal health and educating northern populations about the disease.

Dr Scott Orr fears that indigenous communities will be hardest hit if rabies crosses Torres Strait.

"I understand that in northern Australia there are many indigenous communities with quite large groups of semi-free-living dogs that aren't restrained and roam around," Dr Scott Orr said.

"Those dogs, if they became infected, obviously would become a threat to the communities, to the safety of all the people in those communities. It's a terrible and terrifying disease when it occurs."

Rabies kills at least 55,000 people worldwide a year. Experts suspect that a rabid dog brought on a fishing boat from Sulawesi or Flores islands introduced the disease to Bali, where it has killed more than 130 people since 2008.

Teams of dog catchers from Bali Animal Welfare Association have worked with the Indonesian government to vaccinate more than 275,000 canines -- a costly exercise that attracted funding from the Australian government's AusAID program and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

BAWA director Janice Girardi said Australia's eagerness to support the vaccination program was motivated partly by humanitarian concern, but also as insurance to keep rabies clear of its borders.

"There's no rabies in Australia other than bat rabies, so I know it's a huge concern for Australia should rabies arrive on boats from the Indonesian islands," she said.

Dr Scott Orr believes Australia's best hope of remaining rabies-free is by helping our northern neighbours control the disease.

"We would like to see it progressively eradicated from eastern Indonesia and pushed back and right out of the region, if we could," she said.

"If rabies got established in the wild dog population in northern Australia, for example, there would need to be a very sustained campaign to eradicate it. And experience from around the world has shown that to eradicate it from feral or wild populations of animals, you need to have aerial distribution of vaccine by baits.

"Doing that across a large part of Northern Australia would be a horrendously expensive and difficult and long-term operation."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/health-experts-say-australia-must-brace-for-rabies-arrival-from-indonesia/story-e6frg8y6-1226235103495

Quote:

Now 275,000 half-wild dogs are being vaccinated.

Are we to assume that all dogs in Indonesia are 'half wild'? Or are wild and tame dogs excluded for some reason? Bollocks innit?

Do you make it a habit to have refugees bite you, juliar? 

sir prince duke alevine wrote on Jan 10^th, 2012 at 10:02pm:

Do you make it a habit to have refugees bite you, juliar?

Did you hear about the pilot of the government-charted aircraft who refused to take off from Christmas Island on a flight to Australia because one of the passengers had some kind of highly contagious disease that has long been eradicated from this country?

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 11^th, 2012 at 7:17am:

sir prince duke alevine wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 10:02pm: Do you make it a habit to have refugees bite you, juliar?  Did you hear about the pilot of the government-charted aircraft who refused to take off from Christmas Island on a flight to Australia because one of the passengers had some kind of highly contagious disease that has long been eradicated from this country?

Yes, the pilot was correct in standing his ground.
I'm not too sure what their infection control procedures would be like on Christmas Island though to deal with this.

chicken_lipsforme wrote on Jan 11^th, 2012 at 7:19am:

Armchair_Politician wrote on Jan 11th, 2012 at 7:17am: sir prince duke alevine wrote on Jan 10th, 2012 at 10:02pm: Do you make it a habit to have refugees bite you, juliar?  Did you hear about the pilot of the government-charted aircraft who refused to take off from Christmas Island on a flight to Australia because one of the passengers had some kind of highly contagious disease that has long been eradicated from this country? Yes, the pilot was correct in standing his ground. I'm not too sure what their infection control procedures would be like on Christmas Island though to deal with this.

I would provide a link to the news story - I am sure it was in the major newspapers at the time. Just haven't found it yet, but I do remember it clearly as any aviation-related news is of great interest to me due to being a student pilot.

"There's no rabies in Australia other than bat rabies, so I know it's a huge concern for Australia should rabies arrive on boats from the Indonesian islands,"


It is NOT rabies.

In May 1996 a black flying fox showing nervous signs was found near Ballina, NSW.

Samples were sent to Yeerongpilly Veterinary Laboratory in Queensland as part of a surveillance program for the Hendra virus.

Isolation and gene sequencing showed that it was a lyssavirus, which is closely related to common rabies.

Australia's rabies-free status has not changed as a result of the Australian bat lyssavirus discovery.