Paying the people smugglers: the Abbott Government joins the industry

In what is even more sinister, the transaction itself constitutes an act of "people smuggling" under the 2000 protocol designed to disrupt the activity. The fact that the individuals in question did not make it to Australian shores is irrelevant. Monies were paid, and movement facilitated – in this case back to Indonesia. Canberra has effectively been found wanting, feeding the very industry is decries, the very system its official detest in fits of puritan awe.

The Abbott government, caught off guard, has responded in a variety of ways. Two ministers have denied the claims. Former immigration minister Philip Ruddock has suggested the allegations "haven't been tested." As the claims were "made essentially by people smugglers" they ought to be dealt with by the Indonesian authorities.

A more reliable barometer is Prime Minister Tony Abbott himself. When asked to comment on the allegations, Abbott refused to deny them. Instead, he went into a Machiavellian spin, suggesting that "We have used a whole range of measures to stop the boats, because that's what the Australian people elected us to do." Anything goes. Defenders such as Finance Minister Matthias Corman could only insist in the face of such brutal opportunism that Abbott was sticking "to his very long standing practice not to provide a running commentary on operational matters". (ABC, Jun 13).

Much is made of the Abbott government's success in stopping boats laden with human cargo; nothing is made about the fact that the drowning dangers are simply moved elsewhere. People continue coming by sea because wars, famine and disastrously governed states have not miraculously ceased to exist. Nor have the smugglers, who can now rest assured that they have another source of revenue: the Australian government.