Should Australia be keeping people out?

"Nonetheless, I think it is understandable that any country would struggle to adapt to such a rapid change in its cultural landscape.

"I think it is unreasonable to accuse people of being racist because they struggle to cope with their community changing around them so quickly. 

"In my view, this is the discussion that Prime Minister Rudd does not want to have, that is why he is allowing asylum seekers to be scapegoats with all the ramifications that entails."

The key for Eslake is that the groups whose votes determine the outcome of elections - "swinging voters" in the marginal seats on the suburban fringes of the large cities, and in regional areas - are typically strongly opposed to a generous approach to refugees.

And any sympathy for refugees has not been helped by the "tactics" used by some of them, such as resorting to hunger strikes and threats to blow up their ships, in trying to "force" the hand of Australian authorities.