Australia Celebrates Three Years of No Illegal Boat Arrivals

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There are many problems with the current Coalition government, but one important public policy issue they have been exemplary is on border protection and stopping illegal boat arrivals. At one point during the Rudd/Gillard Labor years, an illegal boat was arriving every day. Tony Abbott was elected in September 2013 with the promise to stop the boats and turning them around when safe to do. Labor and asylum seeker activists claimed it couldn’t be done, but under the direction of then Immigration Minister Scott Morrison the boats were successfully stopped.

Today we celebrate three years since any illegal asylum seeker boats arriving on our shores. It was an anniversary that the Liberal Party was eager to promote on its social media channels as well as by current Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

At a time when the Turnbull Government appears eager to appease the left as much as possible, they have been resolute in not conceding any ground when it comes to border security, even though it is an issue which the left shrieks about the loudest. Let’s not forget asylum seeker advocates tried to disrupt parliament late last year with their provocative slogan ‘FFS close the bloody camps’. The government has also been accused of torturing asylum seekers both at sea and also on Nauru.

But the government has been smart enough to realize any sign of weakness on border security risks opening the floodgates to the boats once again, as we have seen happen in Europe. They have also seen through the leftist abuse on the issue and are aware that strong border security has the support of the majority of the Australian people. This is why they have been adamant that no asylum seeker who has come to Australian by boat will be resettled in Australia, and have also proposed legislation banning them from ever returning if they are resettled in third countries.

Immigration and soon to be Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has also not been afraid to expose to the public that the people attempting to thwart our strong border security may not be of good character and that we need to be sure we don’t repeat the immigration mistakes of the past.

If only the Turnbull Government would apply this strong approach to our entire immigration system, which the Australian people are increasingly concerned about. Our skilled migrant intake is now close to 200,000 and our refugee intake is now over 17,000 which is too high for many Australians who are worried the effect on local jobs and infrastructure.

The big concern Australians have though is Muslim immigration, given the increase in the risk of terrorism in Australia and other western nations, as well as the other illiberal elements that come with the Islamization of nations. The Turnbull Government has shown no interest in addressing border security on this front, and are even proud of their open immigration policy.

But stopping the boats has still been an important achievement and today should be a reminder that we risk having the floodgates opened again under a Shorten Labor Government given how divided they are as a party on refugee policy. It would be a weakness the people smugglers would be eager to exploit at a moments notice, it is foolish to think Labor has learned from their time in government. One hopes that we celebrate many more anniversaries of no boats arriving in Australia.

Author Details
Tim Wilms is the Founder and Editor in Chief of https://theunshackled.net. the Host of Tim’s News Explosion, the WilmsFront interview program and The Theorists with Andy Nolch. He based in Melbourne, Australia where he also conducts field reports.
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Tim Wilms is the Founder and Editor in Chief of https://theunshackled.net. the Host of Tim’s News Explosion, the WilmsFront interview program and The Theorists with Andy Nolch. He based in Melbourne, Australia where he also conducts field reports.