I think Kevin Rudd is being manipulative on his trip to India.
I know India does not want to sign the Copenhagen Treaty, maybe this is part of his agenda during his visit, to discuss his interests on Climate Change. India and China do not want to sign the treaty which makes up almost a 3rd of the worlds population.

You forget to mention "hidden costs" such as : concessions to the Indonesian government (on God knows what, because the PM wouldn't tell us); to-and-fro-ing trips by Mr. Rudd, Smith, etc. Then there are future costs of a clearly failed duty of care to protect our territory, withe verything that this will necessarily involve. (Just remember that the "explosive vest" is a Tamil Tiger invention)

Aren't the people of the Oceanic Viking really just holding us all at ransom, not to mention trespassing. If I tried to get into America illegally I'm sure they wouldn't be 'soft' like Kevin Rudd. If these people have a legitimate reason to claim refugee status then come through the correct channels. Kevin say no to these people and stop all the other illegals.

Why do we have to offer them so much to get off the boat?. Simply take them off with physical force if necessary & give them to Sri Lanka. I don't understand some of this. These people scuttled their boat in Indonesian waters, and we were told they were coming from Sri Lanka on that voyage - BUT we are now told they have been living in Indonesia for 5 years - do we ever get the truth of any of these events? We should have no sympathy for these people who are not refugees (they can go and live in the Tamil state in India with no problems) but blackmailers and opportunists that we DO NOT WANT in our country. Get them off the boat, no bribes, send them back to Sri Lanka and get this boat and crew back to doing the job they are supposed to. Kevin Rudd is an international socialist and a very manipulative person. What is the real agenda here? NO TO SRI LANKAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

Hi
Send the Sri Lanka boat people back to Sri lanka, these are rich people not people in need of help they had to pay I believe about $15000.00 per person to get on the boat. Send them home and carry them off the boat if neccessary.

When i read all the problems that has been happening with refugees it saddens me and realise some of these people are genuine and need help while others are a bit suspect. I am a 60 year old from New Zealand and have lived in Australia for 5 years, during that time i have worked, paid my taxes, and had medical insurance, and decided to call Australia home for the rest of my time here on earth, only to be told by the immigration department that i dont qualify as i am to old. I was in the armed forces and defended with Australians to protect both countries something i am proud of, and now to be told i have no chance of being a Australian citizen or permanent resident. Sometimes i think justice is an arse and just dont understand how sometimes the not genuine people just can walk in almost and be handed anything they want.Maybe its my age and my generation that had a dream, just to have it broken. I think its a privilege to live here and will make the most of my time here.

Why would Rudd worry about spending our money housing the Tamil refugees. He wants to give $7 billion a year to the UN. Not very smart - positively toxic - to the Australian people I wonder what his party really thinks!

Here are a couple of suggestions made by 2 men:

1. Rudd should keep the illegal immigrants on the Ocean Viking for as long as possible, so he cannot be asked to rescue another load of boat people.

2. The Australian Government should arrest people smugglers and throw them in the slammer.

I'm not sure if No 2. is possible, but it certainly would provide a solution.

Send every last one of them back.No if or buts or pandering to the bleeding heart do gooders

Why can't the Viking sail back to Sir Lanka and off load its cargo there. After all, they have paid their passage and probably not only once. What message are we sending the rest of the 'would be asylum seekers'? I bet Australia would not be nearly as attractive if we didn't have an easy to wrought social security system. Can't those bleading hearts out there (in Australia) understand that by alowing an avalanche of this TYPE of immigrant will not only cost them/the tax payer money but in the long term distroy the very thing these demanding assylum seekers are expecting Australia to provided for them. Why should genuine immigrant applicants wait years to come to Australia thru' the right channels whilst these charlatans get to demand a right of passage with all the trimmings within a month.

rloader:

Rudd does what the National Executive tells him, and they are subject to the input of huge global corporations. His job is to duck and weave, so no one knows what is really happening.

The leader of the party of which I am a member has just been overruled by the National Executive regarding choice of a candidate for the seat of Higgins at a bi-election on 5 December (vacated by Peter Costello). How can someone lead a party if he is going to be told what to do all the time?

For 25 years, no one seems to have been able to "make" a decision. Decisions have only been "taken". Who is Rudd taking his decisions from? The answer lies in Paragraph 1.

And here's something that is relatively new. Politicians no longer carry things out effectively, they "prosecute" them. It sounds like an aggressive attack on the task at hand.

Then when they're criticising the opposition, they accuse them of "prosecuting" something bad on us, replacing the word "perpetrating".

Jason K:

To my knowledge, China puts out 55% of the CO2 on its own, with the USA running second. Let them clean up and leave the rest of us alone. Australia is only responsible for 15%.

We must remember that the name of the game with Liberals, Labor, Greens is to redistribute world populations and wealth, according to The Corporate Plan.

That's why Rudd brought in 158,000+ immigrants in 2008/2009, and is ramping it up to 250,000 per year.

That's why he plans to sell China 95% of our natural gas for 6 cents a litre, while WA residents pay $1.70 per litre for the dregs.

That's also why he is rolling out a red carpet wide enough for a herd of elephants to stampede across, in order to entice as many illegal immigrants into the country as possible.

Don't worry about what he tells us on the TV.

All we are being told in Australia is what "old" people are costing. Why are our hospitals in such a dreadful state when the government is wasting all this money on people who have never, nor will ever pay a cent in tax. More bludgers to support. Stevie Wonder could see that they are economic migrants and have got what they wanted since your posting, almost immediate resettlement. Since the war in Sri Lanka ended in May, and half of them have American accents - two of whom are proven terrorists, why do they need English lessons. Since Rudd wants to have a population of 35 million - forgetting that Australia is largely desert, bring it on, and ship them back to Colombo, as you suggested. Keep up the good fight Barnaby!

Has anybody stopped to consider that people from Scotland who wish to stay in Australia have to pay to extend their visas, even after being here several years, and both working. They are British subjects. Why are they being persecuted, and Rex Girbin from New Zealand who was with the allied forces, when we are taking in PERMANENT non-tax paying residents who will go variously on the Holy Grail of welfare, sickness benefits, or the pension. Not to mention the ridiculous baby bonus. I am a self funded retiree, worked all my life, and all I get now is a seniors' card for the bus, and am continually reminded by the media how much "old" people are costing this country. Why are we importing more people to pay when we apparently don't even have enough money to harvest water which falls naturally during rain periods. Rudd needs to be voted out.

Why are the hijackers of the Oceanic Viking receiving such treatment. They should be removed from the vessel and charged with piracy. By allowing these Hijackers to continue to hold this ship and the Rudd Goventment to ransom sends the wrong message to other illegial immigrents.

I find Kevin Rudds attitude to illegal immigration farcical.One could assume he actually wants them here as quickly as possible.Who needs blackmailers here?
Not me.
Make them go through the proper channels.
Send them back.

Stop The Government !!

In regard to the Asylum seekers it would seem that the previous Govt.'s way was preferrable.
The asylum seekers picked up by the Oceanic Viking should be just thankful to be rescued & accept the fact that they were in Indonesia Waters & so go ashore there - instead they may have showed their true colours by refusing to go ashore & virtually holding the Australiian Govt. to ransom. Is this the type of citizens we want here?