Stop the Boats

By Kat

It's not nice to be hit with headlines like this on a peaceful news-reading escapade.

"Four year budget of $20 million spent in one year to stop the boats."

Um, say that again? Excuse me, what?
Okay, back up, back up.
Asylum seekers seems to be a often mentioned issue in current times. And yet we find that so many are fighting the flow of asylum seekers heading to Australia, shouting out all kinds of hate about why asylum seekers are detrimental to this country.
Firstly, actually know what they're going through. I recommend watching "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea". It's a real eye opener.

http://deepblueseafilm.com/about/

"Stopping the boats" has for so long been a motto of Tony Abbott ever since his original campaigns for prime minister. Some Australians would agree with him that asylum seekers are not welcome (I expect some sort of fevered argument about taxpayer dollars?). For a developed country, the amount that Australia is currently doing to support the world in an international context is abhorrent.
Now, we find ourselves in a country spending millions on advertising campaigns with slogans like "No way. You will not make Australia home." And why? These people aren't criminals- they are people in a disadvantaged situation. People, who travelled countless distances just to find safety. These people do not demand a free pass to a new life. All they want is protection, a security of mind and being. For those familiar with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, security is one of the foundational elements of living, second only to physiological needs (which, doubtless, many asylum seekers are lacking in their tumultuous journeys). I trust that we Australians are aware enough of the situation others may be facing to feel some sort of empathy towards such people.
It seems to us that our asylum seeker situation is out of control, and yet more people arrive in Australia from New Zealand each year than asylum seekers.
You may be thinking about costs:
"We are paying excess money for these people!"
"I don't want my taxpayer dollars..."
Yeah, we get it.
But that isn't the problem. 1.5 billion dollars have been spent on detention centres today.
Detention centres.
265 million for those whose claims haven't been processed.
We seem to be taking the wrong approach here. The answer isn't all this pushing away, all this closing of doors. The Government described its own campaign as "the toughest border protection measures ever".
Why shouldn't this money be invested in measures that will improve the processing system, so we don't have to waste all this taxpayer money?
Once again, we find ourselves faced with a marvellous display of what the Abbott government seems best at doing- bandaid fixes.
20 million dollars (which could theoretically go to the long term development and regulation of our processing system to minimise future needs for taxes on such pointless detention centres) all gone down the drain. A four-year budget, blown in a year. All in the futile point of stopping asylum seekers where we have the better option of actually trying to improve our systems long term. This scheme won't last long, folks. Let the government prepare to take a bow once they look at the desperate people turn up at their doors, undeterred by the governmental threat because the need to be safe is so much greater.
Good going, Abbott.