'Asylum Seekers' and 'Boat People'

I have been following the issue of how Australia should process illegally trafficked refugees whom travel (usually through south east Asia) into Australian waters with the hope of gaining asylum.

The issue has resurfaced in the lead up to a soon to be announced federal election. These two articles report on the current government plan to set up a processing center offshore in East Timor.

The Age is a broad sheet newspaper, though publish for Melbourne it has a keen national audience and long held associations with the Labor (left) current government.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/timor-mps-vote-no-to-asylum-bid-20100712-107vu.html

Crikey.com.au is a relatively new reporting and blog site that has respected political contributors and was founded by a former senior staffer from the Liberal (right) government.

http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/07/13/will-there-be-an-east-timor-solution-or-not/

The Age article quotes politicians from both sides and the spokesperson for Australia's Governer-General. It leads with the government's insistence that the plan will pass, before going on to explain the obstacles. It quotes the opposition as admitting to being the underdog in the upcoming election and the writer speculates on the details of that election.

Crikey.com.au featured coverage of the story from several Australian papers. It lead with the fact that the government has several issues before touching on the press release with the Prime Minister insisting the plan was going ahead. Interestingly, this article focused on media and government explanations of why the refugees could not be processed on Australian soil and granted protection visas.

I found the Crikey article to be a more entertaining read, but it didn't provide me with any factual evidence to support anything.