You're right that this is a political issue. Boat people don't bother me in the slightest but I do think the government was naive to introduce a policy that was likely to increase their numbers. There's no humanitiarian benefit in having a cap of 13000 refugees, where the numbers taken from refugee camps are reduced by the number of boat people. That having been said, the responsibility for boarding a boat lies with the person boarding the boat, not the government of the country which they have earmarked as their unauthorised destination. Political blame where it can be ascribed should be sheeted home to the persecuting agents in the countries these people are fleeing, in the case of genuine refugees.