When will the Liberals stop playing politics with people's lives?
The latest asylum seeker tragedy shows once again that we need a policy that gives people an alternative to getting on those leaky boats.
That means processing claims for asylum in a place that refugees pass through before they get to Australia.
The government's Malaysian option may not be perfect but right now it's the only proposal that gives people an alternative. Neither onshore processing nor Nauru does so.
Every asylum seeker processed on Nauru under the Howard government was taken there after they had arrived in Australian waters on a boat.
And eventually, just like those being processed on Christmas Island, they ended up in Australia.
Clearly the opposition think they're on a political winner blaming the government for tragedies even though they, together with the Greens, are preventing the government from passing the laws necessary to implement its policy.
CHRIS SANT
Nicholls