So, just why are we having this debate?

Why not just give Christmas Island to Indonesia?

Now, before you start gnashing your teeth, perhaps you don’t realise that whilst Christmas Island is only 500kms from Indonesia, it is more than 1,700kms west of Darwin & 1,500kms from its closest point on the Australian mainland (Exmouth in WA)?

It seems to me that if the asylum-seeker issue is to be treated as a logistical challenge, rather than a humanitarian issue, then it should be addressed closer to its source. If beating a path to Christmas Island would still leave the would-be asylum-seekers or refugees in Indonesia, then there would be little point in them even starting that journey & they might even decide not to come to Indonesia in the first place?

Needless to say, Australia currently gives Indonesia $2 billion a year in foreign aid & the suggestion is that it is costing us a further $1.5 billion annually to manage the impact of asylum-seekers/refugees.

Whilst our politicians argue about the practicality & humanity involved in ‘turning back the boats’ to prevent asylum-seekers/refugees from arriving on Australian soil (Christmas Island); make grand plans to excise the Australian mainland from its migration zone or try to make even more costlier deals with the Indonesian government, in the hope that they will clamp-down on the boat smugglers, the problem just festers & gets bigger

Whilst I realise that my suggestion might not appeal to the 2,000 odd residents of Christmas Island, for the majority of Australians, coming-up with an effective solution to the asylum-seeker/refugee issue, saving $1.5 billion a year & getting rid of another one of Tony Abbot’s inane slogans might make that a small price to pay?