that's true unless you are aboriginal your ancestry here is at max 200 years, probably much less. We are all immigrants here or descendants of recent immigrants. And we now grab greedily to protect it as ours. Like it or not that is the reality and we should at least be honest about it.
And sorry if it offends people but heaps of Australians are racist to an extent even if they don't think they are. Just saying your not doesn't it make it so. Boat people are just as 'legal' as english backpackers overstaying their visas - and we have 50,000 of them! But no one cares about them they are not a 'threat'. These boat people are from different cultures we don't know so they are somehow a threat. Like it or not that is xenophobic and we should at least be honest about it.
I'm sure someone will bring some very some horrendous scenario with a very low likelihood - e.g. these boat people could be terrorists going blow up Australia...no evidence to back this up - why wouldn't they just fly in someone with no priors on a tourist visa???
How about a far more real and prevalent threat: British backpackers spreading STDs' http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26240533-952,00.html
Anyway I've got nothing against backpackers and I don't think all boat people should be automatically allowed to stay. But I do think they deserve to be treated with dignity, understanding and compassion.A lot (no not all) do genuinely come from horrendous circumstances - and this comes to light in the eventual processing that does take place. Put yourselves in those shoes and see if you think you would just hang around hopelessly to be (or leave your family to be) abused, raped or murdered.
Statements like just send them all straight home are not well thought through. Those that are truly escaping horrendous oppression or threats to their livelihood would be delivered straight to their oppressors/captors.
