TheAustralianPost.com

Gillard giving $25 Million to Indonesia to fight people smuggling is Waste of Australian people’s money

Prime Minister Julia Gillard in naval patrol boat HMAS Broome in Darwin Harbour. Photo: Brad Fleet.
AUSTRALIA is giving Indonesia $25 million worth of package which includes patrol boats and surveillance aircraft to help fight people-smuggling. The announcement came day after Julia Gillard revealed to take the people smuggling issue to regional level seeking co-operation from nations around our region and establish refugee processing centre in East Timor, of which East Timor is not very keen at all.
The package also includes land-based policing surveillance and investigative equipment for partner law enforcement agencies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to fight the people smuggling in their regions. Just few hours after Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the changes to Labor’s border protection policy, authorities’ revealed boat carrying 43 asylum seekers with its three crew members were intercepted west of the Ashmore Islands, North West coast of Australia.
Australian $25 million should be used by Australian law enforcement and patrol department to fight and stop the people entering Australia illegally. Julia Gillard giving Australia’s $25 million to regional nations will not stop the people smuggling, but instead it might boost and increase the traffic of people smuggling.
Our give away patrol boats and equipment could be used by law enforcement as patrol vessel by day and fast track people smuggling vessel by night and yes for a small amount of gift ($$$) for showing brotherly kindness in giving a ride in fast patrol boats. Ms Gillard, inspecting and checking naval patrol boat and giving away somebody else’s $25 million will not solve the issue of people smuggling.
Definitely, not cutting defence budget either. It would be more sensible to increase defence budget. Australian defence could have made well use of $25 million in their training and exercise; we could make it two for the price of one by choosing those locations or regions or proximity for our defence exercise location, areas which people smugglers have used or passed more often in their illegal people smuggling business trip. $25 million could increase Australian presence in the region to tackle people smugglers.