Australia : Over to you, Jakarta

This is a job for Jakarta | The Australian

IF there is a solution to the surge in illegal immigrants coming to Australia by boat from the north, it lies in Indonesia. But let's be clear about what that involves.

It involves Indonesia detaining illegal immigrants indefinitely or sending them back to Afghanistan, Iraq or wherever they came from.

This is the solution both sides of Australian politics ardently desire. It's why we had such a big ministerial delegation to the Bali conference on people smuggling last week.

But isn't this really the Pacific Solution Mark II, with Indonesia functioning as the giant new version of Nauru and Manus Island?

Neither side of politics is quite honest about this matter of illegal immigrants coming by boat. Kevin Rudd calls people smugglers "the vilest form of human life" and even goes so far as to hope they rot in hell. Malcolm Turnbull is hardly less condemnatory.

But if our measures to combat people smuggling are essentially more navy effort in the north, to keep control of our own borders, we are actually helping the people smugglers by ensuring their passengers get to Australia.

The only thing that really discourages the people-smuggling trade is if their customers cannot get to Australia. If they get picked up, sent to Christmas Island for assessment, released into the community and later settled in Australia, then we are completing the people smugglers' work for them.

The harsh logic of the Pacific Solution - which I opposed at the time but which worked - was that only by stopping the people smugglers' customers getting an immigration outcome in Australia could you prevent people paying thousands of dollars to people smugglers.

I have no criticism of the Afghan or other illegal immigrants. If I were living in Kandahar and had the opportunity, for a few thousand dollars, of flying to Malaysia, catching a boat to Indonesia, living in a hotel for a couple of weeks, then catching another boat to Australia, I'd certainly be inclined to take the risk. A few weeks on Christmas Island would be no deterrent.

We are determined this time to be kinder to the illegal immigrants and that's a good instinct. But don't for a moment think the Australian public has an appetite for a large, unregulated flow of permanent settlers into Australia of anyone who can simply physically get to Ashmore Reef.

After John Howard stopped the boats, he quietly let most of the people settle in Australia.

But the only way to stop people smuggling is to prevent smugglers from credibly selling the claim that they can get you to Australia.

Over to you, Jakarta.