Mulling over LEE LOFASO to RENE LAEDERACH 27 Mar 2004

>SA>Hmmm... If the US Border Patrol apprehends nearly 1,000,000 people
>SA>a year, how many slip through? Living on an island continent does
>SA>have its advantages when it comes to border protection!

RL>Well, you still get truckloads of 3rd world immigrants.

 LL> Truckloads from Mexico, and boatloads from Haiti and Cuba.
 LL> One caveat in reference to Cuba is that those Cubans who make it to
 LL> land are allowed to stay.  Those Cubans apprehended at sea are
 LL> turned back to Cuba.

Something similar happens here. If the boats reach mainland Australia,
the refugees can stay, but most of our islands & reefs have been removed 
from the "migration zone" & people landing there have no
right to enter.

 LL> Hey, why not give those refugees free land in the interior of
 LL> Australia?  It would be a great way for Australia to develop that
 LL> land for residential use, as well as to develop farmland to grow
 LL> future crops.  In fact, the United Nations would probably be
 LL> willing to spend a small fortune helping those poor refugees get
 LL> started. As such, it would be a win-win situation for all
 LL> Australians.  :) 

We are getting mixed messages here. On one hand, we have permanent
water restrictions because we don't have enough to support irrigation
& domestic use - on the other hand, the major employer group in this
state wants to double the population to 2.5 million to improve
productivity & competitiveness etc etc. The bulk of the state is
arid / desert, & not suitable for agriculture, unless there was
a massive investment in desalination plants to provide water,
which would still be too expensive anyway, with current technology.

Cheers, Steve..

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