One of the more obvious features of left-leaning luvvies is that they are all stupid. They simply cannot think straight, and as soon as they see something in the media, no matter on what subject, their pitiful brain tells them it is strong support for their latest ratbag cause and they immediately lurch into campaigning in support of it, no matter how stupid it is. They are like children who see something that could be eaten or drunk, and instinctively go for it without thinking. There is also a sub-set but equally stupid group of lefties, at least in Melbourne who, as soon as they make this illogical leap, feel they have to write a letter to the Age to tell the whole world how clever and perceptive they are to have noticed it. So I suppose it is not surprising that the miraculous rescue of the soccer boys and their coach from the cave in Thailand should set off the latest surge in irrationality among the twisted Left concerning Australia’s policy on refugees, resulting in lots of ignorant letters to the editor and equally inane contributions to talkback radio, showing just how besotted they have become by the refugee cause. But first, it must be acknowledged that the Thai rescue certainly showed us some very good things. Clearly, one of them was how adversity can be overcome by courage and persistence. Another is how nations can come together in times of crisis, contributing their skills and effort for a common and decent cause. Another is how, in these times of stultifying uniformity where everyone wins a prize for losing or gets the Order of Australia simply for doing their job, there is still scope for true heroes, like the Thai SEALS and the British and Australian divers, to excel as individuals with exceptional and amazing qualities above and beyond the common herd; it was not equality, diversity quotas or affirmative action that won the day in Thailand, but the efforts of courageous and inventive individuals. It was also truly inspiring to see that Thailand is now so efficient, modern, sophisticated and well-equipped that it could conduct such a complicated operation. But of course the left luvvies could see none of this. All they could see, by an extraordinary leap of what passes for logic, was that the rescue showed up Australia’s inhumane policy on refugees and that it should be immediately abandoned.

Now, you might ask, what has the rescue of the Wild Boars soccer team got to do with Australia’s refugee policy. Nothing really, except that refugee advocates are bores themselves and that the very idea they could draw such an analogy shows how brainless they are. Their argument was: look how easy it was to rescue the 10 boys and their coach from their cave using love and compassion; it should be just as easy to fly to Manus Island and Nauru, show the same love and compassion, rescue those nice refugees, whisk them back to Australia, and the whole problem will be solved; Australia will then be able to lift itself from its bed of shame and everyone will live happily ever after. Well it is not that easy. First, the Thai youngsters were entirely innocent and deserved being rescued from a predicament caused by nature; the people on Manus and Nauru are there because they ignored all the warnings that if they tried the illegal route, that’s where they’d end up. They pressed on regardless, dragging their kids with them. Secondly, the luvvies actually put them on Manus and Nauru; they got there because the Labor and Green do-gooders wrecked an orderly and generous refugee policy and opened the floodgates. Thirdly, no generous soft-hearted scheme to take everyone from Manus and Nauru will expunge the real evil that surrounds their predicament, which is not that they are trapped there, but that thousands of others are not trapped there, for the simple reason that they are dead, drowned by the same foolhardy generosity that Sarah Hanson-Young and her ilk want us to show again. Finally, lifting people off the two islands would simply make the problem worse because it would tempt even more refugees to make the same perilous journey. The heroic Thai rescue deserves praise because it was engineered by brave and competent individuals. But this is no time for emotion and compromise on our border policy which would only generate a new wave of illegal migrants.

There was something sad but predictable about the inquiries into the disappearance of two filing cabinets stuffed with classified documents and their magical re-appearance in a junk shop in Canberra before being auctioned off. Sad, because the first report, by the Australian Federal Police, will not be released to the public, so we are treated like fools again. We are asked to accept that this complete shambles was ‘human error’, with not a clue on who the humans are or what was their error. Sad, also, that the government can get away with the inquiry into the public service side of the scandal being conducted by an ex-public servant; governments always do better when investigated by themselves. Sad, also, that there has been no statement by the PM about this appalling breakdown in security and responsibility. And predictable in that the main report does not tell us who stuffed up, how they did it or how they have been punished. That all remains a secret, at least until the public servants lock their secret findings in a filing cabinet to be sold at the next auction. All we get is the predictable stodge of clichés about a ‘dedicated team’ who will be ‘rolling out’ a ‘revised protocol’ and lots of culture change. And they expect us to believe the government will keep our new e-health records safe from hacking!