Interesting. My initial reaction is that it goes to show how much the media is trying to run this agenda (and I do remember how much Howard loved to jump on it for his own ends). As in, boats make for more drama (who cares about someone arriving with the right paperwork and following international law at an airport after all?), and they also love pumping up the unusual (things of smaller numbers always seem get the attention) at the expense of the humdrum. I imagine that any challenges either get buried, ignored or twisted... *sigh* I do despair for so-called journalism like that, but am glad for journals like the Economist that maintain the standards of true journalism.

Thanks for posting what the officials actually say about it. It's what I love about the net - while there is a lot of tosh out there, there's also a lot of sense! Thank you for being one of the beacons of sense (if sense can be a beacon...)