Nothing melts the talkback lines better than boat people. Mel, Chris, Val, Rober, Kay, Ron and Melba all have an opinion…

Caller Robert asks if there will be a murder investigation if someone is found to have blown up the boat carrying a group of asylum seekers on the WA coast. Mitchell assumes that the Navy and the Fed Police would conduct the murder investigation. — 3AW (Melbourne) Neil Mitchell

Caller Pam says Australia’s coastline must be protected. She claims the boat was deliberately set on fire, with the intention of causing deaths. — ABC 774 Melbourne Jon Faine

Caller Graham says that “the boat people thing” would have been videotaped “24 by 7”. Smith agrees, saying that a similar thing happened in 2001 with the “Children Overboard” issue. Smith says it would have been shot in high definition with three cameras. Graham says that this will not be in the news in three weeks. Smith disagrees. Smith says he is “disagreeing to agree” with Graham. — 2GB (Sydney) Chris Smith

Caller George says that Smith is making him cranky, because he is using the term “asylum seekers” to describe people who have arrived in Australian waters recently, when in fact they are “illegal immigrants”. — 2GB (Sydney) Chris Smith

Caller Noel says most people do not realise that people smugglers make big money and they are exploiting the asylum seekers. He says the asylum seekers are coached how to manipulate the Australian system. Jeffreys says it is clear there is a link between the change in Fed Govt and a greater influx of boat people. — 2CC (Canberra) Mike Jeffreys

Caller Mel says that all of the refugee advocates are out in force again after being quiet for the last couple of years. Mel says that he heard a lady yesterday saying that she refused to believe that the asylum seekers set fire to their own boat. Jeffreys says that the former system was working and now that we have changed it we are asking Indonesia for help to stop the boat people. — 2CC (Canberra) Mike Jeffreys

Caller Chris asks if boat people will be accomodated before homeless people. — 2GB (Sydney) Chris Smith

Caller Val says that Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister, and Bob Debus, Fed Minister for Home Affairs, work for “us” and suggests that illegal immigrants should not be let in to Australia. — 2GB (Sydney) Breakfast Chris Smith

Caller Peter says “just like you, I’m actually going to work right now”. He says that at least 450 illegal immigrants hit Australian shores in the last year, and says that nobody in the media is reporting on the outcomes of their cases. He asks “how many are actually receiveding benefits right now?”. — 2GB (Sydney) Breakfast Chris Smith

Caller Robert says that asylum seekers are desperate to get off their boats as an Australian vessel is defined as “Australian soil”. Smith wonders about the motive behind a recent explosion on a boat of asylum seekers. Robert says that the government has blood on it’s hands. He says that Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister, has caused the deaths of asylum seekers. Robert says it is “culpable manslaughter”, and agrees with Andrew Bolt, columnist, that one must “be cruel to be kind”. — 2GB (Sydney) Breakfast Chris Smith

Caller Kay says she is disheartened by the comments of Bob Debus, Fed Minister for Home Affairs, regarding an explosion on board a boat near WA. Kay says that many people in the legal profession have told her that Debus was “a dud” as the NSW Attorney General. Kay says that Debus should not be claiming that the matter is “political” when it actually is, Smith says it is only “political” because politicians are talking about it. Kay complains about “the waffle talk” used by NSW politicians. Kay asks ‘how many countries did they bypass to get to Australia?’. Smith says that they would have passed by 12 countries. Smith says that the asylum seekers will not be turned back. — 2GB (Sydney) Breakfast Chris Smith

Ron comments on the illegal boat people. He wonders what sort of people they are if they set alight their own boat killing some of their own people. Francis says he doesn’t agree with them coming here. Ron says he’s surprised he’s the only one talking about this on talkback. He says he watched a bit of Channel 2 where they were asking govt officials whether or not they knew if they actually did set alight their own boat. Francis says that was [Bob] Debus being forced to give out information that he didn’t know about. Ron says Mr [Kevin] Rudd has to raise the barrier again. Francis says he thinks Debus wanted to make sure that he has the right information rather than get it to the situation of how the press made that bit of jumping in the water thing a long time ago very embarrassing for the govt. Ron says he’s not being racist in saying that we don’t need any more people in this country. Francis says there’s a way to get people in this country. Ron says they get benefits that even our own people don’t get like a Trust house or accommodation, clothing and food. He mentions the black lad that stabbed another lad. He says a friend told him that they had these ‘darkies’ walking around and standing in front of his fence. He says his friend confronted one of them and he was told to mind his own business. Francis tells Ron that we don’t talk like that anymore saying some of those very intelligent people coming out from Sudan and places like that are trying very hard to do the right thing here. He says Christmas Island is where they are processed. He says our problem is nothing compared to what they have in Europe because now because of the EU, there are no borders and you don’t have to have a passport. Ron says a doctor told him about the rise in tuberculosis because certain people are coming over here that didn’t medically pass. — 5AA (Adelaide) Bob Francis

Caller Norman compliments the emergency workers who are helping the people involved in the boat tragedy. He disagrees with the Premier Colin Barnett’s comments that the asylum seekers covered their boat with petrol. — 6PR (Perth) Nightline Graham Mabury

Caller Ken says there are enough crooks, thieves and cheats in Australia without the boat of refugees that exploded today. — 4BC (Brisbane) Drive Michael Smith

Caller Bruce says five years ago he saw a boat firing flare in the middle of the Sydney heads and he called triple 0 and the operator refused to put him onto the water police unless he gave them a street name and he kept saying it is in the middle of Sydney harbour. — ABC 702 Sydney (Sydney) Drive Richard Glover

Caller Emily says Christmas Island is sending the wrong message to people smugglers. She says the refugees would have to be terrorists to pour petrol through a boat, and clearly they have no consideration towards other people. Morrison says the people onboard are not terrorists, but opportunists. He says some people would call them asylum seekers, but they are actually opportunists. —
2GB (Sydney) Sydney Drivetime Jason Morrison

Caller Richard says the boat explosion incident has exposed yet another faulty Federal Govt policy. — 2GB (Sydney) Sydney Drivetime Jason Morrison

Caller Terry wants to talk about the Ashmore reef boat incident. He says he was told by people who work in Customs at Christmas Island that there are like 5000 people in the detention centre. Sattler says it is more like 500. Terry says that when you get that sort of volume people as there have been in the military, you get doctors, dentals and optical people. He says we have 100,000 people homeless in Australia and as far as he is concerned, John Howard, Former PM put up a red light in between Indonesia and Australia. Now the Labor party has given the green light. He says Kevin Rudd, PM and the people in Canberra have to address this. — 6PR (Perth) Drive Howard Sattler

Caller Ted asks if it is a coincidence that refugees would set their boat alight. He says that because of this, the Australian Govt will have to bring them in because they cannot simply watch them drown. — 2GB (Sydney) Afternoons Andrew Moore

Caller Aaron says he is a renter and could quite easily buy at any stage. He says driving through the M5 tunnel took him 20 minutes at 2pm. He says he rode a bloke and raced his friend who was driving, and he won on the bike. — 2GB (Sydney) Afternoons Andrew Moore

Caller Roger says Rudd is as bad as “that bloke in Fiji” by not telling people anything about the boat explosion in WA. He says if it wasn’t for the Australian Labor Party, the boat would not have been there in the first place, and nobody would have been killed. — 2GB (Sydney) Afternoons Andrew Moore

Caller Michael says he thinks Bob Debus is “hopeless” as the Home Affairs Minister. Moore agrees that there seems to be “a lot of dithering going on” and people just want some information about the boat explosion. — 2GB (Sydney) Afternoons Andrew Moore

Emailer Bernie says that Bob Debus is unimpressive. — 2GB (Sydney) Afternoons Andrew Moore

Caller Graham has called about illegal immigration. The caller used to work in the Caribbean where it was a major problem. The caller says the immigrants were returned. Asked if we are too lenient, the caller says yes. — 2GB (Sydney) Afternoons Andrew Moore

Caller John says that at least eight boat loads of “illegal immigrants” have arrived in Australia recently. He wonders whether they are queue jumpers who have been allowed to stay in the country. Cary remarks that most of them have been allowed to stay because they were found to be legitimate asylum seekers. He refers to an article by Mike Steketee in The Australian; the article says that asylum applications in Australia increased by 19% last year. He notes with interest that only 4% of last year’s asylum seekers came by boat; the rest came by plane. — 4BC (Brisbane) Greg Cary Morning Show

Caller Pete says Bob Debus, Federal Minister for Home Affairs, is an ex-NSW politician which “says it all”. He says ‘they’ should come down hard on illegal immigrants and send them all back. He says Debus is as “weak as water”. — 2SM (Sydney) Grant Goldman

Caller Melba says that boat people should be sent back to their own country. She says that the “islamification of Australia” is an open secret. — 2GB (Sydney) Breakfast Chris Smith