We Need to Take Care of Our Own

It's time our government closed our borders to immigrants. Or at the very least, drastically slash the number of immigrants allowed into the country, and completely stop letting in asylum seekers.

Sounds terrible, doesn't it?

But hear me out before you start condemning me.

As you're probably very unaware, Australia has one of the highest rates of poverty in the world (last time I looked we were like the third highest). This is actually quite alarming as we Aussies like to think of ourselves living in the "lucky country."

Evidently this is the case for a few of us.

So clearly the government started throwing money at this problem, and improve EVERYONE'S standard of living ... at least those living in poverty and squalor. The rich really don't need their living standards improved.

And the best way to get this much needed money?

Why, simply using all of the money that is poured into immigration, particuarly asylum seekers and detention centres ... which won't be needed once we stop asylum seekers entering the country.

And don't even get me started on the government's plan to give $4000 of taxpayer money to asylum seekers to go back home and get work and/or start up a business!

Clearly those people fled their home country because of political reasons, not because they had no money! And if they did come here seeking asylum because they're too poor back home, then why haven't the poverty stricken people here jumped into boats to seek asylum elsewhere?

That taxpayer money (and I mean all of it that's spent on immigration) would be better spent here, fixing up communities that desperately need it, that are just breeding poorer and poorer people with each generation.

How are we meant to help these asylum seekers when we're not even taking care of our own?

At the moment the government is trying to do both, and is doing a half arsed job at both.

If the government could just focus on our own, then we could bring the ENTIRE country up to scratch, and then (and only then!)can we think about helping these asylum seekers. But not before!

And then maybe all of those abused kids in foster care might also get the attention they desperately need to live full and healthy lives. At the moment, they're just languishing in depressing circemstances, overlooked by the system.

Again, not accepting the asylum seekers would mean that there would be more money to be spent on child welfare, which would mean there'd be a lot less deaths in the system.

And it's not like I'm suggesting that we stop accepting asylum seekers forever. I'm just saying that we only stop accepting them until there is no poverty in Australia, and that everyone has very similar living standards.

That way when we do finally start accepting asylum seekers again, we'd be better able to help them settle down here, instead of just handing them their papers and throwing them into an alien environment.