One of the HUGE issues of the past 12 months has been and is still Assylum Seekers and the boats they arrive on. So.. let's say you were part of a large 'network' of people, who wished to 'look' tough on boat people, but at the same time, do other things which completely contradict your "For public consumption" persona and stance.
How might you go about that ? Well let's first ask "How can we stop the boats?". It's really pathetically simple. We already have laws in the Migration Act which provide maximum sentences of 20 yrs for people smuggling.
Next step.. "identify" those smugglers. Ok.. do we need to have a huge and costly covert operation in Indonesia to locate these people? NO.. we don't. All we have to do is identify the CREW of each boat and charge THEM with People smuggling, and apply the law as it stands.
As an adjunct to this, I recommend widely publicising the fact in Indonesia that "Smuggler crews will be hauled off for a 10 yr stretch in the big house in Australia". It's that simple.
So..let's see how Victoria's DPP has handled a recent case.
In that case the issue became "Are the smugglers/crew minors"..if they are, they cannot be prosecuted under our law for that crime.
So... if you were a smart Indonesian who want's some fast cash by smuggling assylum seekers to Australia, you would make sure you knew our law...right?
Secondly, if you are a well networked DPP office which is possibly under political instructions to 'take it easy' on the Indo crews... then.. of course when
a) You have a crew member claiming to be 15 (but looks much older)
b) You have a police age check which demonstrates the chances of him being '15' are .3% and chances of him being 19+ are 99%...
..welllll....of COURSE you drop the charges because how could he be 19 when the chances of a medical test indicate that it's a 99% certainty ?... cough..gag..choke...
All I can say is "look, think.... VOTE accordingly"
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