The treasury informs us that 2.4 billion has been spent on detaining boat people since 2000. This has worked out at $100.000, — per boat people. I wonder how long this stupid waste of money will be allowed to continue. The tide in favour of off shore detention has now been shrinking, and ever so slowly there now appears the realisation, that, if not from an humanitarian point, but from a financial point of view, we might be better off to swallow our pride or blind obstinacy and simply do what the rest of the world has been doing for many years, dealing with a difficult problem that presents itself directly on most of their doorsteps on a never ending and daily basis.

After all, not many countries have the luxury of spare and submissive countries or excised islands close by where refugees can be send to and let to slowly languish into a trickle while getting their status processed.  In the meantime, as we get pointed out daily, concerns about their treatment, resulting in hundreds of cases of self harm and mental break-downs, riots and AFP involvements is ringing alarm bells worldwide especially amongst the UNHCR. No matter what we do to try and repel the boat people, they will undertake those dangerous voyages, no matter what we try to discourage them or brutalize them. They have nothing to lose.

So what is that fear that Australia has about dealing with boatpeople that, no matter what, will continue to arrive at our doorstep? Are they armed or pose threats? Do they come with murderous intent, rape and pillage? The most and not unreasonable assumption is, that many more will arrive, if we let our guard down. That might well be true. So what?  Australia happily takes in more than a hundred thousand migrants in a year. Suppose, if a thousand boatpeople a week arrive on our shores a week. What is the problem with that?

Surely, by reducing our normal intake of migrants by fifty thousand would still not increase the overall number. Consider that the reduction of fifty thousand migrants from ‘normal’ channels are those that are probably with much less urgent needs to come here, then why not kill 2 birds with one stone. Consider how our image would change overnight?

 Instead of being looked upon by many with the horrors piped out on TV’s world- wide, first with The Tampa and then the terrible sights of roof-top refugees, burning and self harming, those terrible drowning at Christmas Island. Sometimes, the footage resembles something close to the torture on Guantanamo Bay where hundreds are also still languishing after many years.

The advantage of age is the luxury of hindsight. I remember still a similar fear of refugees and new-comers in the late fifties and sixties. The ‘reffos’ and Italians and Greeks were knife pullers and worse, garlic eaters. They would catch trains or buses while speaking strange languages. That fear for Southern Europeans later changed into a fear for the boat-people from Vietnam. They would bring exotic diseases and wore funny hats.

All of those fears were unfounded. Can you imagine Australia without the huge benefits from all those brave enough to have had the guts to come here? We would all still be slurping milk-shakes, eating meat pies with lamingtons in hand, and thronging around the 6’o’clock ‘time-out gentlemen’ pubs. The Sundays, they were deadly quiet with just the stray dogs about, scratching their fleas at deserted suburban rail-stations.

We now again still seem to harbour those fears for the Afghans, Burmese or Iraqis, again based on fried air, nothing much more.

What is that fear and why do we allow fear to compete so sadly with compassion?

Come on Aussies. Open your hearts. Take the risk and deal with those unfortunate boat-people arrivals as best as we can. Deal with the problem with honesty and do it in the country where they wanted to come to, Australia. Show the world we care and have compassion. We are the largest and least densely population country in the world. Not just a country but a complete continent.  Let’s also have the largest hearts.