I'm sure you would have had this feeling at some point in time throughout your life, just as I have had. It could be anything. From not being able to help someone who is injured or ill, to having a chance to help but not knowing how to.Or in my case, knowing deep down that something should be done differently, but having no chance at influencing the outcome. At the moment, I mainly get this feeling when the national news is on. It's quite easy to predict what the top story will be each night. The first sentence will generally contain the names "Julia" or "Tony" or the words "Malaysia", "Nauru", "Boats", "Failed" or "Assylum Seekers". Yes, I'm referring to the seemingly unending debate about where to send Assylum Seekers that arrive in Australia illegally between the Liberal and Labor parties.
I'll (try) keep my thoughts short here, because I know how annoyed people are that this topic is still in our headlines constantly (or even at all!). I personally think that the current debate is the wrong. Both economically and morally. I'm a firm believer that the people fleeing here by boat (in my view, not an illegal method as they typically have very few genuine options to actually seek asylum - just extremely dangerous) should be given every oportunity to settle here should they prove to be in genuine need of our help.
And that last bit is what gets me most. Our Help. We are more than just the lucky country. We are one of the safest, most ecenomically sound and beautiful countries on this troubled planet. We have the ability to help people who are less fortunate than ourselves. I reckon we should process boat people here, in Australia. Yes, my way most likely won't stop the boats. Which I'm fine with. These people are coming from countries where they're more willing to gamble with their life on the open seas in little more than old, leaky fishing boats as opposed to horrors and dangers of their own country. Anyone willing to take that gamble should be given the opportunity to be processed humanely and efficeintly (not over a 10-20 year period like in Malaysia) with the ultimate prize being resettlement here.
Many citizens today are prime examples of what can come from people seeking our help and being given a fair go. They're more likely to embrace our culture than normal immigrants because they've worked so hard to get here, and continue to work hard once here (moreso than a lot of people on the dole!). And it's not like we can't afford to help them in this situation. We might not be able to fix the problems in their country, but we can offer hope and a home to those willing to seek out help.
Also, I'm a lot more confident in our processing measures than those in other countries where bribing is far more common. I feel it is a more secure method of determining that the people who are given the final green light to stay, have Australia, and it's peoples best intentions at heart and will make their best efforts to fit in with our community.
I know it's an overused (and cliched) phrase, but just think about it for a minute, how would you feel if the shoe was on the other foot.....
