The immigration debate (if one can grace it with such a term) in Australia has grown particularly bilious in the run up to the general election, with both Labor and the Liberals trying to out do each other with outlandish ideas on how to deal with what is really a very small problem:the boats'. What with the looming and effective reintroduction of the 'Pacific Plan' who ever gets in at the election, the choice of location for the 'offshore processing centre' merely differs, and now Abbott claiming he will have a hotline to Naval ships sent to intercept 'the boats' and will make the ultimate decision on whether to to provide assistance or to turn them around and send them back to potential disaster.
None of them are brave enough or intelligent enough to grasp the nettle and scupper their chances of winning the election and actually challenge the absurd hysteria surrounding 'the boats'. Fortunately, one group of University of Queensland students have taken on just that mission and have launched a blog under the name of The Asylum & Refugee Law Project to challenge just those myths and misconceptions and try and inject some realism into the debate.
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