FED: Border policy should aim for no boats, Turnbull

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2009
FED: Border policy should aim for no boats, Turnbull

DARWIN, April 24 AAP - Australia should aim for a "no boats" border protection policy,
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says.

The seventh boat of asylum seekers to arrive in Australian waters this year was intercepted
off Western Australia on Wednesday, less than a week after another refugee boat exploded
killing five and wounding dozens more.

The latest arrivals have stoked renewed debate over Australia's immigration laws amid
an influx of asylum seekers fleeing their troubled homelands, including Afghanistan and
Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned that many more boats will come, but he denies
that it is a result of his government shifting from the harsh policies of the previous
government under John Howard.

Mr Turnbull said Australia was now much softer and more receptive to people smuggling.

"It is easier to get into Australia under Mr Rudd's government," he told reporters
in Darwin on Friday.

"There is no doubt that the Rudd government in changing the policies of the previous
government has created the impression that Australia is a soft target and that has contributed
... to people smugglers testing the envelope by putting more boats with more asylum seekers
on them on the water.

"The object of Australia's border protection policies should be no boats.

"We do not want this people-smuggling trade to continue. We want it to be stopped."

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KEYWORD: BOAT TURNBULL

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