They are coming on boats from everywhere trying to get into Australia, just as our Southern Border is being overrun by mostly economic migrants including Middle Easterners with possibly other motives, making illegal immigration a critical issue for new Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Indeed the nearly two-month-long messy stand-off with the Sri Lankan Tamils may have diminished the voter’s view of Rudd’s effectiveness.*
The issue of border protection is looming as a major challenge for new Prime Minister Julia Gillard as she approaches the election.
The arrival of boatloads of asylum seekers off Australia’s north-west coast has hurt Labor in the opinion polls, and the problem that eroded Kevin Rudd’s popularity in marginal seats is now Ms Gillard’s to deal with.
Ms Gillard says she will not “lurch to the right” but she does understand the fears Australians have about illegal arrivals.
“I do understand the anxiety and indeed fears that Australians have when they see boats intercepted,” she told the 7.30 Report.
“It does make people anxious. I can understand that, I really can.”
* Incidentally, remember those Australian asylum-seeking Tamil “bachelors” we resettled in Oakland, CA (here five days ago). They are a prime example of how refugee/asylum decisions are made that have nothing to do with the legitimacy of the aliens’ case and everything to do with them being pawns in a larger political game. It is clear to me that we took the Tamil’s to help Australia out of its political predicament.