red baron wrote on Jul 5^th, 2013 at 10:48am:



It did work for 4 boats until the crews started scuttling their own boats.

Bobby. wrote on Jul 5^th, 2013 at 10:51am:

yes and thats exactly why it wont work.

ian wrote on Jul 5^th, 2013 at 10:43am:


The US Coast Guard has been towing back people smugglers boats that come from the Caribbean looking to land people on the US mainland illegally since Ronald Reagan was President.
Do your own research.
And whether Sri Lanka is a 'role model' really is irrelevant to this issue eh.
I'm sure your Dilmah tea tasted fine this morning.
Sri Lanka are entitled to round up suspected Tamil terrorists, and they are right to ensure that these people do not escape justice by sailing off into the sunset.
And not every boat found at sea is in 'distress' eh, and those that are actually are assisted.
The rest go back to where Indonesian territorial waters meet International waters with enough fuel to sail into the nearest port which will usually be 20nm due north.
You may like to know that during Howards time, only 6 smugglers boats were returned in this way by our navy before the smugglers realised this wasn't doing their business any good, and stopped coming.
Naval personnel board these vessels, plug any bad leaks, check for sufficient food and water, check the engine and ensure their is enough fuel to make a 20nm journey and stay on board until the vessel reaches the limit of Indonesian territorial waters to ensure their is no sabotage.
And this is the only sane acceptable solution to stopping this filthy trade.

chicken_lipsforme wrote on Jul 5^th, 2013 at 11:06am:

Like I said, I would like to see any sources or links you have on the US towing back boats. Your Sri Lankan comparison is completely off topic. Yopu alos missed the point about the people smugglers being able to scuttle thier boats, thats the big flaw. we are never going to tow them back, its just a ploy by Abbot.

The Indonesians had a good point:

How can they control their 17,000  islands?

BlOoDy RiPpEr wrote on Jul 5^th, 2013 at 9:59am:


The UN?

Now your're right at the bottom of the barrel. You rightards HATE the United Nations, they're useless. Never doing anything, piss up in a brewery, etc etc.

Besides, the Indonesians can ignore the UN. If they want lessons, go to Bush and Blair. And, by association, Australia.

ian wrote on Jul 5^th, 2013 at 11:16am:


And as I said, do your own research on the US.
The Sri Lankan comparison is not off topic.
Country shoppers there are being smuggled out of there country, and are being stopped and returned to port by the authorities.
And it doesn't matter whether the crews scuttle the boats, we can't stop them if that's what they wish to do.
No doubt they have lost people doing this, and no doubt will again.
The fact remains that the Coalitions policy will be to turn back the boats when it is safe to do so.
This has already proven to be successful.
Rudd stated in 2007, that he too would have the boats turned back.
Now if the crew scuttle the boats and people drown, then any surviving crew will face justice.
But pretending the policy is flawed and we are hamstrung because of what the smugglers might do, and we should allow this filthy trade to continue is just plain wrong.
The Australian government should not in the business of sponsoring foreign criminal enterprises because of weak ineffective policy and laws.
The Indonesians want us to 'take the sugar off the table' and stop inviting these people to take these risks.
And this is precisely what the Coalition will do again.
Labor doesn't have what it takes to fix this problem they made, so let the other side have a go eh.
When Rudd took over in 2007, there was 4 detainees left on Nauru with few boat arrivals, all the mainland detention centres closed down with the exception of Villawood, and the annual border protection budget was a small fraction of what it is today.