Ali, true points, and I didn't know about the new facility in the Top End. I was thinking about Villawood and Baxter detention center in S.A.. The latter is designed and built like a prison.
Certainly some processing of all arrival is necessary. Temporary housing of Indonesian fisherman who were never going to stay is quite a different matter from processing asylum seekers.
But did you know, that most of the people who are in Australia illegally arrived legally on tourist or work visas and never left? Boat people - a few hundred to a few thousand per year - are relatively scarce.
I'd like to see some more Sudanese refugees. The really tall ones. They should make good fast bowlers and ruckmen.
And some more Islanders - the Wallabies' tight five aren't up to scratch.