Good grief Sandi, where are we going to put them all, they'll have to open up all the old Detension Centres. Trouble is half of them have been turned into something else by now.

Surprising that Rudd isn't standing at the wharf bearing a cake with fifty candles, to welcome them.

Plus of course, a non-special deal . :P

There are international laws governing asylum seekers and we have obligations to people entering our waters. This causes me to consider international laws on whaling and how Japan "got around" the problem - they simply announced a "scientific research" project on whales that has lasted many years and unfortunately requires the killing of whales in order to obtain scientific data.

I suggest we announce to the world an extensive scientific research program on the effects of naval gunfire on timber fishing vessels. Other nations, corporations or individuals could be asked to assist in the research by simply sending unwanted vessels.

Seriously though, arent we all getting mighty sick of this never-ending problem and successive governments total failure to address it? Every time I hear of it, I subconsciously hear the sound of yours and my tax dollars going down the "gurgler".

"Seriously though, arent we all getting mighty sick of this never-ending problem and successive governments total failure to address it?"



Kfchugo, Howard stopped the boats.

I'm not sure why 'successive govts' are mentioned.

Spotted the following on another forum. Unfortunately no source was provided...and it's not my practice usually to quote things without a source. Maybe someone with more expertise than I have, can check the figures.

However, Rudd did say he wanted to increase the immigration intake by 300,000 per annum...though modified the figure modestly when the GFC hit.

Nevertheless, here are the details copied from another forum.

ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION



* The preliminary estimated resident population (ERP) of Australia at 30 June 2009 was 21,875,000 persons. This was an increase of 443,100 persons (2.1%) since 30 June 2008 and 95,800 persons since 31 March 2009.

* Preliminary natural increase recorded for the year ended 30 June 2009 (157,800) was 8.4% (or 12,200 persons) higher than the natural increase recorded for the year ended 30 June 2008 (145,600).

* Preliminary net overseas migration for the year ended 30 June 2009 was 285,300 persons.



POPULATION GROWTH RATES



* Australia’s population grew by 2.1% during the 12 months ended 30 June 2009. Natural increase and net overseas migration contributed 36% and 64% respectively to this total population growth.

* All states and territories experienced positive population growth over the 12 months ended 30 June 2009. Western Australia recorded the largest percentage gain (3.0%) and Tasmania the smallest (1.0%).



On 4 December 2009 at 01:37:43 AM (Canberra time), the resident population of Australia is projected to be:



22,064,348



An estimated population growth of 189,354 in 5 months and 3 days. Or around 37,871 per MONTH?

Of which 64% is immigration?



Where is the water coming from? Where is the housing coming from? Where is the power coming from? Where is the health care (forget I asked that NSW has hit over 60,000 on their hospital waiting lists) Where is the public transport coming from? Where are the 10,000+ jobs per month being generated?



These figures are staggering.



/quote]



Edit to add just for interest:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/migration-numbers-at-record-high-20091203-k8tf.html

Bit of a sidebar issue I know, but interesting.

Right on Koko, Howard sure did stop the boats.

"Howard stopped the boats"......could someone post (from a reliable source) the period of Howards successful boat stopping?, i.e., a time frame during which NO BOATS arrived. While I concede that such a period may exist, it would have been relatively brief and I think would have had little or no impact on asylum seeker ( and illegal immigrant) arrivals by other means.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sunday-telegraph/id-stop-the-boats-howard/story-e6frewt0-1225795330694

...

Thanks for that Clay but, with respect, it is just an interview of Howard "blowing his own trumpet" I have a problem with many people who laud Howards achievements ( and there were a few) while completely ignoring the reasons behind his humiliating loss and departure from the political arena. To be honest, I am worrying that I, myself might have the opposite problem and cant bear to hear anything positive said about the man.

How soon we forget the "children overboard" affair - a classic example of how polly's will do or say ANYTHING to advance their cause. I acknowledge that there may have been a period of hiatus in arrivals of boat people, but to postulate that Howard or anyone else stumbled across some magical solution is absurd. So many accuse Rudd of copying Liberal policies and if this were the case, surely he would have continued Howards "magical solution" to the boatpeople problem?

Just in clarification, I am not a Rudd fan - I treat all politicians equally and that is to assume that they ALL have no honesty or integrity and will do or say anything at all to get re-elected (their sole concern in life).