PERHAPS IT IS TIME THE NATIONALS TOOK THE 'LEAD' AND STARTED TALKING ABOUT THE NEED FOR EMPLOYING 'ANTHROPOLOGISTS'.......WITH MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CURRENTLY UNDER THREAT LIVING ON ISLANDS NEEDING TO BE RELOCATED ,ONE MIGHT CONSIDER THIS EMMINENTLY MORE 'PRESSING' WHILST AT THE SAME TIME RESEARCHING THE POSSIBILITY OF FAIR-DINKUM REFUGEES, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF ANTHROPOLOGISTS, HELPING THOSE NEEDING RELOCATION, AND SETTLING WITH WHOMEVER IS THE CLOSEST MATCH TO THEIR CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS....THERE IS NO DOUBTING THESE URGENT RELOCATIONS. AS YOU SAY BARNABY, "THE OCEAN GOES UP, THE OCEAN GOES DOWN', WHICH IS SPOT-ON AND IN SIMPLE ENGLISH 4 US ALL TO UNDERSTAND....THERE WILL BE A NEED FOR ANTHROPOLOGY TO BECOME A SENIOR-SCHOOL SUBJECT ONCE AGAIN...THE BACK-GROUND KNOWLEDGE IS SORELY NEEDED IN THESE TIMES.
thanx Barnaby 4 ur continuing efforts.....JEANIE

POST SCRIPT... PLEASE TELL "RUDDY' HE IS SCARING THE LIFE OUT OF MY PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL WITH ALL THIS CLIMATE-CHANGE RUBBISH...I AM SERIOUS, THEY ARE HAVING DREADFUL NIGHTMARES AND DO NOT NEED THIS CRUEL NONSENSE..ALL ARE UNWELL, MANY ARE TERMINALLY ILL.....THIS IS ALL A CRUEL HOAX. PLEASE TELL HIM TO GET ONTO "WHAT IS IMPORTANT'....LET'S START WITH OUR WOEFUL, SHAMEFUL HEALTH SYSTEM!!!!THIS SHOULD BE OUR #1 PRIORITY........"veritas"..............................REGARDS, NURSE JEANIE.

I have just heard on the news that yet another boatload of people trying to enter Australia illegally, has been intercepted off Darwin. It was reported that they will be taken to Christmas Island. I also find it interesting that news reports regarding the 78 Sri Lankans onboard the Oceanic Viking seem to be waning. I guess the Rudd Government strategy is to make no decision on the issue because obviously a vessel going nowhere is not newsworthy. Then, when it appears everyone has forgotten about the Oceanic Viking, it will surface at Christmas Island. Every time I hear of another boatload of people entering Australian waters I think of all the other people desperate to live in Australia, doing the right thing, waiting patiently for their turn and going further and further back in the queue because the boat people get first bite of the cherry. I do not even want to contemplate the cost to Australian taxpayers of funding the interception/search and rescue of these boats, together with cost of constructing and managing detention centres in Australia and Indonesia, and the end result - welfare dollars. Rudd has lost control, his Government has no idea of how to address the issue of border control and it makes me feel very uncomfortable. John Howard had it so right, Kevin Rudd has it oh so very wrong.

If the Sri Lankan government has guaranteed the safety of these people upon return to their homeland, why are they not being taken back (proper monitoring allowed for) immediately??
How do we know they are all genuine refugees??.....we don't until it is too late!
At the best of times Australia is a dry country, in these times of diminishing rainfall and global warming, should we be adding to our already stressed water situation??
As for our embarrassing P.M. .........now that he has got us into unbelievable debt, he wants to add more and more people to our stressed welfare account!!
Australians be afraid. If I wasn't such a positive person and not easily frightened I would be scared witless!!

The Ruddster cannot possibly go to Sri Lanka and sort out their problems. This would interfere with his plan to bring in as many people as possible.

To my knowledge, the TNCs deliberately stir up trouble in numerous countries for their own gain. Zimbabwe is a typical example.

In the 2008/2009 financial year, Rudd brought in 158,021 immigrants. Well below half were from white English-speaking countries, and nearly half were Asians.

Now that illegal immigrants have started coming here in droves in response to his Open Border Policy, Rudd will be rubbing his hands together with glee, but only when the television cameras are switched off.

Rudd is simply responding to the Green Global Plan to redistribute Populations, before engaging in a massive culling.

The Australian Greens have policies on Global Governance and Population. They support population-limiting policies such as abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia. As we all know, The Greens are the umbilical brothers of Labor.

I think we will find that the asylum seekers are mostly illegal immigrants, hoping to come here for a slice of the golden orange, before Labor/Greens/Liberals give everything away to Asian countries, leaving us the pips.

Some of the boat people say they have been stuck in Indonesia for 5 years.

I think if we roll out an even bigger red carpet by giving illegal immigrants almost immediate access to our shores, millions more will come.

Some have specifically stated on national television that they are only willing to resettle in Australia, NZ or Canada.

We must send a clear message to Rudd that AUSTRALIA IS NOT FOR SALE, and that we have no interest in developing an Asia/Pacific Economic Union by 2020 (or any other time).

A friend made this comment: "Rudd is too much of a Christian. We are deliberately rooting ourselves to be kind to others."

I had to tell him it had nothing to do with Christianity at all.

Thank you Senator Joyce, for suggesting the bleeding obvious solution of sending the Sri Lankans (from the "Oceanic Viking") back to their homeland. This would send a clear message.

Incidentally, regarding the so-called "screening" of asylum seekers: how many have been assessed as "economic migrants" - or isn't their even a box to tick for that obvious category?

Thanks,
Grant

Thanks senator on u r view on sri lankan boat people. They are not genuine refuges. They are the tamil tigeres and there familes .They were susude bombers who blew up incoent civilians in sri lanka We dont want terrorist posing as refugees in this country. my vote will be for u Thanks

Thankyou Senator Joyce . We need your voice loud & clear to speak up for Australians.

Well said senator joice.. If we just accept everyone who needs asylum then we become soft and easy prey. Also, true asylum seekers will take asylum in any country but their own so to speak.

Barnaby Joyce's comments that these refugees should be taken back to Sri Lanka are incredibly lacking in any knowledge of the subtleties of this issue, let alone the fact that under the UN Human Rights Commision it would be illegal to send these people back if it is thought they may face persecution. "...representatives of the Sri Lankan government have said that their safety is guaranteed"...this is hardly a concrete enough reason to go shipping these refugees back to Sri Lanka, and it is not as if the Sri Lankan government is going to tell the international community that these refugees are going to face persecution. Now Barnaby, this guarantee may hold for this boatload of Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers, but what of future refugees? is this guarantee going hold for them aswell?
If Mr Rudd should divert is attention from being a "global warrior on Climate change" to refugees, he would be being incredibly negligible in terms of refugees, due to the fact that Climate Change is going to create millions of refugees worldwide and Rudd is probably doing more through his Global warrior persona than he could simply focussing his attention on the refugees when they begin to turn up on our shores...he is in essence attempting to stem the problem at the source.
Mr Joyce, for you to call Copenhagen a 'festival' you are illustrating you incredibly stupidity and ignorance. It is a meeting of Nations discussing ways to slow and halt the biggest challenge ever faced by humanity, I can only be thankful that you don't hold any greater position of power with your increasingly astonishingly ignorant, idiotic views.

I find it also incredible Mr Joyce that you would call these Asylum seekers Economic migrants.....if you didn't notice there has just been a massive and incredibly bloody Civil WAR in Sri Lanka, I think perhaps it may be this event that has created these refugees, and not the global economic situation. Don't be so incredibly naive.

"JEANIE" I would like to know where the science is for what you are saying. CLimate change is rubbish? have you not done any reading on this topic, have you not been experiencing endless days of record breaking heat, prolonged droughts, sever floods.....i needn't tell you more. To say that seas "rise and fall" is true: the moon pulls the ocean creating tidal movements...however, when the world has had an industrial revolution, with continued growth, and preposterous amounts of CO2 entering our atmosphere, and the Arctic begins to melt...and nearly all the worlds scientists on the front line of this issue say there is a direct correlation, i'm pretty sure we can be certain it is not the moon. Wake up, and look at the facts. I'm afraid there is no evidence for this being a cruel hoax...all the evidence clearly supports the fact that Global Climate Change is happening!!


"Renee" where did you get that information that these people seeking asylum in Australia are Tamil tigers and not geuine refugees?...perhaps you should alert the government, i'm sure it is vital information.

And "LORIKEET"....all I can say to your ridiculous comment is that they are not as yet classified as Illegal imigrants.....they are REFUGEES until proven
otherwise, your questioning is not helping Anyone. your othr comments are astonishingly ignorant, and riduculous.

"Kathleen Garth" telling Australians to be afraid is aggravating the issue, and is incredibly insensitive. These people are refugees, and as such Australia has a Moral obligation to house them.

Regarding the ETS.Most govt members talk a lot and say nothing.It would be interesting to have a secret ballot of all govt members and see how many labour
people are against the ETS..If Peter Garrett was serious with his claim that the sea
will rise to 18meters,he would immediately ban the sale of land in these areas and give the residants 20 years to get the hell out before they get drowned.
The Shri Lankan govt. have garanteed the boat people no harm unless they have a criminal record.So why not send the customs ship straight back to Colombo.If they still won't leave the ship get the local army to remove them..This should have been done in the first place,and would have saved us tax payers a hell of a lot of money..Rudds a dud,Garrett is a parrot and Wong is wrong,wrong wrong...

Here is some completely verifiable information regarding the Tamil ”asylum seekers” that everybody should reflect on. The information is presented in the following parts:
1. Statistics, 2. The Story, (Reflect on the implications of the first article below, i.e. the Australian Government knew about the Tamil Tigers being among the asylum seekers when they warned the Canadian government back in October. Yet, the PM condemned Wilson Tuckey for suggesting that this could be possible!) 3. Morale of the Story . 4. Conclusion
(As it was the Tamils who invented the “explosive belt” which is now used by suicide bombers to kill Aussies & other soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan, I will use a pseudonym rather than my real name!)
1. Statistics
Between 2003 – 2007, i.e. in 4 years (under Coalition government) a total of 735 Sri Lankan people (both Sinhalese & Tamil) were granted visa on humanitarian grounds.
Between 2007 – May 2009, i.e. in less than 2 years (under the Labor government) that number increased by 1164 (all being Tamil recognised as “asylum seekers”).
As these are official Sri Lankan government’s stats as of May 2009, their accuracy can be checked with our relevant department, i.e. DFAT (I love how this acronym sounds in rap slang: Dee Fat! How appropriate!)

2. The Story

AUSTRALIA WARNED NOT TO ACCEPT TAMIL REFUGEES BY SRI LANKA

Daily Mirror – Colombo, Sri Lanka Saturday, May 23, 2009
Australia could be swamped by Tamil asylum seekers following the end of the country's bloody civil war
Australia faces a diplomatic rift with Sri Lanka after its High Commissioner yesterday warned the Rudd Government not to accept Tamil refugees from its civil war.
The forthright comments by Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Canberra, Senaka Walgampaya, came amid growing fears that Australia could be swamped by Tamil asylum seekers following the end of the country's bloody civil war this week.
As many as 300,000 people, mostly Tamils, have been displaced by the conflict, forcing Canberra to send officials to Colombo to work with the Sri Lankan Government on ways to prevent a new wave of asylum seekers.
Mr. Walgampaya told The Australian yesterday that he saw no justification for Australia accepting any Tamil asylum seekers on either political or humanitarian grounds.
"My view is that Australia should not accept political or humanitarian (Tamil) refugees because Sri Lanka is perfectly safe for Tamils and Sinhalese equally," Mr Walgampaya said.
"The Government is adequately providing for (displaced Tamils). I do not accept (Tamil) claims that they are not being treated well. There is no reason for these people to be political or humanitarian refugees."
The High Commissioner's comments place him on a collision course with Canberra, which is expected to increase the number of Tamils it currently accepts under its humanitarian Programme.
Sri Lankan armed forces this week crushed the last military resistance of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam after a 26-year civil war in which the LTTE failed to establish a separate state within Sri Lanka.
Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the final military push are now huddled in refugee camps in the country's north, prompting warnings by aid groups of an impending humanitarian crisis.
The Sinhalese-dominated Government has been accused of playing down the worsening conditions in these camps as well as the death toll from the final military push in recent weeks.
Australia has supported the Sri Lankan Government's long struggle against Tamil militants, but at the same time Canberra has accepted a growing number of Tamil refugees on humanitarian grounds.
Asylum is granted to people who have well-founded fears of persecution in their homeland, but decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, not on the grounds of a single race or ethnicity, meaning not all displaced Tamils would automatically qualify. Since 2003-04, 1899 visas have been granted to Sri Lankans, mostly Tamils, under Australia's refugee and humanitarian programme, including 676 in 2007-08 and 488 in the 10 months to May this year.
That number is almost certain to increase as hundreds of thousands of Tamils consider their future in Sri Lanka without the prospect of an independent homeland.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith yesterday acknowledged the conflict could create a situation that would lead to more people looking for asylum elsewhere.
"One of the things we're looking at very closely are the so-called push factors - what is forcing or pressing people to look afar," Mr. Smith said.

3. Morale of the Story
a) The Sri Lankan government is really psised off with the Australian Government. (Can you blame them?)
b) The Tamils who had been displaced during the Sri Lankan army offensive against the LTTE (“Tamil Tigers) are encouraged and actively assisted by the Sri Lankan government to return to their villages/towns/cities . As any government would do, they are “vetted” so that ex-Tamil Tigers (i.e. terrorists) can be identified and dealt with according to the Sri Lankan law.
c) The majority have returned to their homes or intend to do so, but many prefer to make a trip to Australia… as Canada is a bit too far. Who could blame them when, for example, a nursing assistant in Australia earns the equivalent of 50 times the salary of a fully qualified Registered Nurse in Sri Lanka?. At this stage one would ask why these “asylum seekers” don’t opt for Singapore or Hong Kong, which are much closer to Sri Lanka & where salaries are also much higher. The answer is simple: Because those countries are not lead by idiots. Unlike our idiots, their governments never accepted that the Tamils could claim the “refugee status”, as defined by international law.
d) Given a) above, many such prospective refugees to Australia are also actively encouraged by the Sri Lankan government to find “refuge” in the country of their choice: Australia. (Can you really blame the Sri Lankan government?)

CONCLUSION

1. Sri Lanka is not lead by idiots!
2. Australia is! That is, Stephen Smith’s incompetence is breathtaking! In spite of many such warnings from the Sri Lankan government, he, the PM & Co were caught with their pants down and all they could think of was the…Indonesian Solution!! Unbelievable, but true!
If the Australian Government really believed the Tamis were persecuted by the Sri Lankan government (maybe they are, but this is not the point in this story), they should have acted accordingly, e.g. say so to the Sri Lankan government back in May (and since), table this issue at one of the UN Security Council's meetings, ask for/impose "sanctions" against Sri lanka, etc.
As you can see, it has taken KR & Co 6 (six) months to realise that Sri Lanka is the "right tree to bark at", not Indonesia! To conclude: utter incompetence, not to mention another very costly "stuff-up" for the Australian people to pay for.

On a second thought, mabe Lara Bingle is to blame:
Lara: "Where the bloody hell are you?"
Tamil "refugees fleet": "We are coming, We are coming!"

To Eugene Howard.
Please come up with logical arguments against the following fact:
1. Most European countries have had ETS in place since early 1990s. Yet, all the scientists (regardless of their belief or non-belief in global warming) agree that CO2 emissions are much higher in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere, where no country has had ETS legislation as yet. So, you tell us (simpleton Eugene) how can you justify imoposing this huge broad based tax (that ETS really) if there is no effect on the stated objective, i.e. CO2 reduction?
I know, you will (stupidly) argue that there is less CO2 emission in the Southern hemisphere because the nations there are less industrialised than those in the Northern Hemisphere. in which case, moron, do you know that we are in the Southern Hemisphere?

Mr. Rudd has painted himself in a corner. The only sane thing he should now do is - sending the Oceanic Viking with the "ilegals" back to Sri Lanka. This would not only save face but would also send a message to other would be ilegals hoping to reach Australia.
Our prime Minister Mr. Rudd should put on his listinging ears, as Mr Barnaby Joice would be able to give him some very good advise.

Barnaby Joice has our full support.