NedKelly

Had labor not messed with border control in the first place the High Court challenge would never have been made. FACT.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

FACT is a cinema in Liverpool. FACT

Budawang

Another unsubstantiated thow-away statement. Why wouldn't a continuation of the Pacific solution have been challenged? What evidence can you provide? How can your hypothetical statement above be a "fact"?

People like you are a dream come true for Abbott.

IvanM

Challenge would have happened anyway Mr shouty.

NedKelly

You know that for a fact do you?

IvanM

Joe on Julie more your cup of tea?

IvanM

Refugee advocates have been building up to this for a long time. Either way both parties have lost the plot on the issue which is more relevant to Murdoch media and talk back nutters than Joe public. Both focus on boats rather than the bigger issue of assylum, refugees and push aspects. Dr No has no practical policy.

Budawang

There were problems with Howard's Pacific Solution, but Rudd rashly threw the baby out with the bathwater when he dismantled it. Gillard's Malaysia solution was a credible attempt to fix the mess of the previous Labor government while avoiding the worst excesses of Howard's policies. Unfortunately, she needed Abbott's support and didn't get it.

There are both push and pull factors at work and any credible policy must tackle both.

GarryP

The problems that you have in attempting to use Nauru as evidence that Abbott has forward looking policies are:

• It would, and was, illegal under the HR assumptions of law. Making it work legally would require the same legal acts that would make Malaysia, PNG etc. work - and they would have have other advantages (see below).
• It was only ever an offshore processing centre. It didn't really change the price of fish because people there did end up with Australian visas in the end. Thus people smugglers would be able to say "yes, look, you can get an Australian visa this way". So it wouldn't stop any people smuggling after an initial period of uncertainty.
• Nauru isn't that big, and would eventually become full.
• Fixing the issue means that they can't end up in Australia via that route, so they need to end up elsewhere - you need a regional solution. Only way to really do that is to involve the big countries (like Malaysia) who could accommodate thousands.
• Its a backward looking policy, of someone else. Not exactly good evidence for Abbott and him having real alternatives. Actually its more evidence that he doesn't, and only looks to recreate the past.

IvanM

It was a populist reactionary measure.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I think we are close to identifying all those who voted for Gillard in the poll.

Broad Shoulders

agreed, nutjobs the both of them!

deb68

There all the same.

Budawang

I suppose you're referring to me. I don't belong to any political party and consider myself to be close to the centre in political terms. The Labor party is a centrist party so I do tend to support their policies. The Greens seem to be living in a parallel universe most of the time and the Liberals are a throwback to a bygone age whose real agenda is protecting the establishment while also appealing to less educated people.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Always nice to see a massive level of smugness coupled with a superiority complex on BE. Usually makes for interesting times.