KRudd - not the messiah.

[IQS.RLOW]

[Rorschach]

[Black Orchid]

NOTORIOUS alleged people-smuggler Sayeed Abbas Azad will avoid facing justice in Australia after a court in Indonesia today rejected his extradition.

The 31-year-old Afghan Hazara - believed to have sent at least 40 boats to Australia since 2008 and suspected of involvement in two sinkings - was ordered to be freed from custody after today's ruling by the South Jakarta District Court.

There is no scope for appeal against today's decision.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/wo ... 6677700248" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Buttering up your mate Bambang is really going to work isn't it Kevy? Maybe we should just all leave now so there is more room for the economic rabble

[IQS.RLOW]

A telling piece from our last real foreign minister. Rudd and the left have made Australia a laughing stock with their rolling over and fawning to appease the sobbing dickheads of the left who have failed to realise that their wedge local politics failed years ago but are unable to give them up lest they have to admit they were completely fucking WRONG so they have upped the ante and destroyed international relations because of their inability to admit they are completely fucking WRONG

Bash a leftys head in day should be a national holiday

Rudd sold out our national interests and lost respect in Jakarta

THE best international bilateral relationships are based on mutual respect. We acknowledge their issues and sensitivities and they acknowledge ours. And between the two we try to sort it all out.

Well, for the past 5 1/2 years the Australian government hasn't applied this principle to our relationship with Indonesia. Instead, it has lurched between reckless self-interest and fawning deference towards our largest neighbour. Not surprisingly, the results have not been good.

The government recklessly cut off some of Indonesia's food supply by banning live cattle exports, all on the back of a television program. The result is it not only unnecessarily antagonised Indonesia but we've lost much of that valuable trade.

Then there's the issue of people-smuggling. Let's state the obvious. The Australian government has spectacularly failed to harness the help of Indonesia to close down people-smuggling and protect our borders.

This is the most dramatic failure of Australian diplomacy since Gough Whitlam gave president Suharto a wink and a nod in Townsville in 1975 to invade East Timor.

During the Howard years the Indonesians told us on several occasions they thought the people-smuggling issue was our problem, not theirs.

I didn't accept that. The Indonesians were up to their necks in the issue. Indonesian-flagged boats with Indonesian crews were bringing people illegally and for money to our shores.

I told them we were going to stop it. It was then, as it is now, a problem in our relationship that had to be fixed. At no time did I seek Indonesia's permission to protect my own country's borders. We have every right to protect our borders and we don't need anyone's permission to do so.

We adopted a policy of zero tolerance of people arriving illegally on our shores, especially in rickety Indonesian fishing boats. We refused to let the Tampa land people in Australia and as an extension of that policy we did turn back boats when we could.

In protecting our borders we treated our great neighbour with respect. We kept the Indonesians fully informed about our actions. We didn't mislead or deceive them. But never, never, ever did we ask another country's permission to protect our borders. No self-respecting government would do that. Ever.

And it worked. The boats stopped, the integrity of our immigration scheme was restored and our relationship with Indonesia went through a golden era. We learned to help each other.

The then Indonesian foreign minister, Hassan Wirajuda, and I set up the Bali process to develop regional co-operation on people-smuggling. We worked with the Indonesian authorities to track down the people-smugglers and break up their cartels. We helped the Indonesian police and intelligence agencies track down and stamp out terrorism. We gave them $1 billion to help with the reconstruction of Aceh after the tsunami in 2004.

I'll never forget President Yudhoyono taking my hand in both of his and, with tears in his eyes, saying he would never forget Australia's generosity and help. It was a moving moment. He made me shed a tear as well.

We jointly set up another regional process to counter terrorism. We even jointly set up a regional inter-faith dialogue in the wake of the Bali bombings.

It all seems a long time ago now. Terrorism hasn't returned but the boats have become an armada and hundreds of lives have been lost. It's heartbreaking to see all our good work undone by Kevin Rudd, the global master of playing cynical domestic politics.

If John Howard had rung me and asked if he should sign a joint communique with Indonesia saying we would never act unilaterally to protect our borders I would have told him it would be a sell-out of our national interest. It would be weak and fawning. You don't win respect signing documents like that. But that's hypothetical. Howard, a patriot if ever there were one, wouldn't have countenanced signing such a document.

In one of his first acts after returning as prime minister, Rudd did just that. No one in Canberra said it but I would have: it was weak, cynical domestic politics. Rudd sold out our national interests and in doing so won applause from the press gallery but lost respect in Jakarta. In 1975 Labor sold out East Timor to Jakarta and left us with a bloody mess to sort out. Since 2007, Rudd has done a similar thing, but this time he has sold out Australia, not little East Timor.

The government has made a huge mistake signalling it won't turn back the boats no matter how hard that may be.

It sends a simple message. We'll use the navy to facilitate the arrival of the boats, not to protect our borders. No wonder they keep coming. We are helping them, not stopping them.

It's heartbreaking for me to watch all this. Rudd has undone all the good work we did and the best he has come up with is a new regional conference. We already have a regional process in place, the Bali process.

And a last thought: how come our Foreign Minister isn't trying to fix this up? He spends his time on Twitter and Facebook. He's the Foreign Minister: his job is to solve problems, not play with his iPad. It's as sad as it is pathetic.

Alexander Downer was foreign minister from 1996 to 2007.

[Rorschach]

Did anyone see the conga line of diplomats in Kevvy's driveway.

This guy is unbelievable.

Clueless and the only thing top of his mind is himself. Go King Kevvy.... go away.

[Neferti]

Yes, how rude he is!

Is that his (blonde) daughter lurking on the verandah?

[Neferti]

Oh, and whats with all the deleted posts, replaced with on this page and the previous one? Did the Mod get trigger happy?

[OiOiOi]

The Ruddster is back.

The poles are lifting for the ALP.

He went to Indonesia and made Abbott look out of step on the world wide refugee problem.

Tony’s been left in the starters stall – call an election, call an election, call an election we hear him say – and little else.

[Black Orchid]

He went to Indonesia and made Abbott look out of step on the world wide refugee problem.

Surely you jest

[Rorschach]

The Ruddster is back. Sadly

The poles are lifting for the ALP. sadly

He went to Indonesia and made Abbott look out of step on the world wide refugee problem. rubbish

Tony’s been left in the starters stall – call an election, call an election, call an election we hear him say – and little else. Funny but even those die hard labor supporters I know most still won't be voting for kevvy, so there is hope after all.