For many years we have heard the Labor Party, the Greens and their various sympathisers rabbit on about how the armada of vessels carrying illegal immigrants into our territory were being driven by ‘push factors’. That is, these are truly desperate people fleeing their homelands in fear for their lives and forced to undertake this dangerous journey.
People with a capacity to think without the paralysis of political correctness know that this position is unsustainable under any serious cross-examination.
That these unauthorised arrivals are coming to Australia for a better life is beyond dispute. A life on welfare in Australia is far better than living in other parts of the world. The fact that most arrivals are granted some sort of permanent place here, get medical and dental care, housing and a variety of other benefits almost immediately is extremely attractive to those seeking a better life for themselves and their families. These are the ‘pull factors’ that the government and the Greens insist do not exist and are not even considered by the illegal entrants. According to the Greens we should take just about anyone who lands on our shores with even the flimsiest tale of woe.
According to the government, the boats are all Tony Abbott’s fault. Needless to say, both are muddle-headed positions.
Australia is seen as a soft touch under the current government by asylum seekers and this was starkly demonstrated by the ABC’s Four Corners program this week.
The story exposed the grubby yet lucrative people smuggling racket allegedly thriving within a stone’s throw of Parliament House in Canberra. At the centre is a man known as Captain Emad. According to the ABC, he arrived in Australia under a false name, apparently without papers, on a boat which some have said he was captaining during its passage Down Under.
Allegations were also made that Emad was actually a successful businessman from Malaysia with millions of dollars secreted away overseas as a product of his people smuggling empire.
His family members travelled separately to Australia (although by similar means), all swearing that he (Emad) was dead. From their string of public housing units, these ‘refugees’ are proof that the Greens/Labor government has lost control of our national borders.
Our ruling political leaders have been so blinded to the facts that truth has now become whatever they say it is.
That Emad and his ilk can be found to be genuine refugees by concocting dodgy stories is testament to just how broken the system is. The investigatory process in determining refugee status is clearly flawed, the commitment to break the people smuggling racket is woefully inadequate and the excuses by our governing parties are laughable.
The question that needs to be answered is: how can an ABC journalist expose what hundreds, if not thousands, of highly paid officials cannot?
One could be forgiven for concluding that the problem is not one of ‘cannot’ but more likely ‘will not’.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
