Bottom line is THE WORLD has a refugee problem and nobody really knows how to solve it. The refugee problem is fuelled by political, racial and religious hatred, and this government is using the same fuel here in Australia to gain political space to implement its immigration policies. They added even more fuel when they started using the rhetoric of war to justify using defence forces aggressively against unarmed civilian boats. Now they have gone one step further by using the face and uniform of the Australian Defence Force to scare and intimidate people in another country. This final step is extremely worrisome because in the eyes of the rest of the world we are ready for war and willing to use deadly force against the enemy. If the boats (the enemy) keep coming (which they will, they haven't stopped) the government and defence forces have left themselves with no choice but to use deadly force, to do otherwise is now is to show a weakness that will be exploited.
I am a strong advocate for stopping people making the perilous boat journey between Indonesia and Australia because I think we have an obligation to help refugees find a haven in a safe manner, but I think involving the defence forces in the manner that this government has deployed them is an extremely dangerous development for this country and anyone who supports this government's actions in this matter are implicitly agreeing that the government should use deadly force against refugees.
I am totally against the use of deadly force against unarmed people, so I am against this government and all those who support it.
