hink of it all - of the life that is! Study your friends and foes!
Study the past! And answer this: "Are these times better than those?" The life-long quarrel, the paltry spite, the sting of your poisoned pride! No matter who fell it were better to fight as they did when the world was wide.
Boat intercepted
The Federal Government has confirmed that a boat carrying 35 passengers and five crew has been intercepted off the coast of Western Australia.
The boat was spotted by a surveillance plane yesterday afternoon near Ashmore Island, and then intercepted by the Border Protection Command.
The Government says those on board will now be transferred to Christmas Island to be detained and processed.
::View Article::
We don't need to lock these human beings up for large periods of time without explanation or concern. However we do need to intercept them and send out the message to people smugglers and those considering coming here that we will determine our immigration intake and not vice versa.
At leat, we do if we don't want a situation developing in which naturally ambitious poor and struggling people from Asia and beyond, but also those who smuggle them, begin to get the impression that Australia would be a nice country to get to with our 'wealth for toil', relative national harmony, and generous welfare system.
Why? Well it has nothing to do with ethnic, class or political superiority. It's simply about the numbers. Asia, that large continent that we are separated from by a small stretch of water, has a population of around 4 billion (thousand million) people. According to World Bank Data the percentage of people living below the poverty line in Southern Asia is 30.84%. China alone has a population of over 1.3 billion people and about 28% live below the poverty line. India has a population of over 1.1 billion people of which 42.68% exist below the poverty line...
Australia itself has a population of just under 21 and a half million people and we are struggling to supply basics like water and housing as it is.
Now obviously all of these people would not automatically pile into rickety boats and make for main land Australia if we ceased to deliver the message that we care about border protection and domestic population issues, but more would and this could well represent a huge amount of people.
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