Question Time live 22/10/09

Newcastle Lady says:

01:23pm | 22/10/09

Wilson Tuckey is well past his use by date. He needs to settle down comfortably in a nice nursing home. He has done far more damage to The Liberal Party than he has done to The Labour Party. I have no idea what electorate Wilson comes from but if hes the best they have to offer, heaven help them. Many many Aussies I know get a good laugh out of poor old Wilson, but I am sure Mr Turnbull was not laughing when he attacked him.
Terrorists could just fly in on a commercial flight and get a visa,  no one in their right mind would consider those leaky boats a luxury cruise and only the desperate would venture here that way.

Nick says:

01:50pm | 22/10/09

Newcastle Lady:
While I agree that Wilson should be put out to pasture, the nature of his statement has some merit when it comes to entering a country undetected.

To come in through an airport requires passport / visa / customs checks, any of which would easily highlight a “person of interest”. However if you come across in a boat, without any paperwork, your history is no longer easily available to authorities. Thus the likelihood of unsavoury characters residing in Australia has increased substantially.

BMJ says:

02:07pm | 22/10/09

Turnbull’s on the warpath.

Censure motions are fun

Kaz says:

02:50pm | 22/10/09

Nick, have a read about the backgrounds of the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Pretty certain that most them came into the US on valid visas—Mohamed Atta got his visa in Berlin in May 2001.  One of them had visited the US half a dozen times before the attacks. Things are tighter now, but the airport system is not foolproof.  In contrast, statistics here show that around 90% of asylum-seekers who come by boat turn out to be genuinely in need of protection. Tuckey’s argument has no substance.

Nick says:

03:13pm | 22/10/09

Kaz, well aware and as such the tightening in airport security and global targeting and profiling of terrorists has meant that entry into countries via this method is no longer feasible. Agree completely that the majority of asylum seekers are in fact legitimate, but if I were to enter a country undetected, it would indeed be simplest to blend in with legitimate asylum seekers . Frankly I can’t conceive a better way to enter the country under the radar.