Stopping the boats is not a pipedream, as too many in the commentariat claim.

And far too much is made of the constraints imposed by the Refugee Convention. It is for us, the nation state, to interpret this and not interested lobbies.

Not only should John Howard’s Pacific solution be restored, but asylum should only be considered for those coming direct from a place of alleged persecution. Further, those coming without papers from Indonesia or any other safe third country should be presumed to be acting in bad faith, and refused further consideration.In summary the government must stop outsourcing this part of the refugee programme to criminal people smugglers. If a government can’t govern, its leader should hand in her commission.

The palliative of substantially increasing the refugee programme would be a serious mistake if this were to be as mismanaged as it has been in the last few years. It is essential that those chosen be likely to be contributors to Australia. There are, for example, Christian communities in the Arab world who live in fear for the property their persons and even their lives. On all experience they make excellent immigrants. The Rev Fred Nile persuaded the Howard government to give particular recognition to the plight of the Egyptian Copts, but this was subsequently abandoned.