And this is not the first time that the boat people have set their boats alight.. It's what they do. As soon as they see a Warrie on the horizon they go about disabling their vessel, often they hole it so it begins to sink, sometimes they torch the engine room. Maritime law dictates that they must be assisted/rescued.
Well, if they did indeed sabotage their vessel (and we don't actually know that yet, to be politically correct), they seem to have rather got it wrong, don't they, considering three are dead, two missing, and many so seriously injured that they are unlikely to survive. And amongst those who will survive serious burns, they are pretty unlikely to recover to the extent they can enjoy a life in our oh so hospitable country.
In the meantime, I hope someone is keeping tabs on the expenses incurred in the rescue, the medical evacuations, the land transfers, and the extensive medical costs/ongoing rehabilitation.
And then there is the fact that some of our own Navy personnel have been injured in the course of doing their duty.
Meantime, Australians who have been on medical waiting lists for years will again be pushed further back in the queue.
It seems the Indonesians today foiled an apparent further attempt by people smugglers to send another boatload to Australia.
Might be good to have an understanding with Indonesia that:
(a) asylum seekers departing Indonesian shores will on reaching Australian waters be despatched smartly back to Indonesia,
(b) wouldn't the Iraquis and Afghanis be more, um, comfortable in Indonesia anyway, given their religion and culture are the same?
Except, of course, that Indonesia doesn't offer the same level of medical care and social security that Australia does.