Yurt
Gold Member
- Jun 15, 2004
- 25,603
- 3,614
Bush tucker on the menu with Australian border patrol unit
THE ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS, Australia (Reuters) - A group of soldiers start to unload from two inflatable boats after a long, bumpy night-time journey off Australia's northern coast, torches scanning the shoreline for the telltale red eye reflections of saltwater crocodiles.
A splash and a cry of "Croc!" sends two men scrambling back into the boats before a large ray reveals itself as the cause of the scare.
The soldiers are from Australia's North West Mobile Force, known as NORFORCE, a surveillance unit that employs ancient Aboriginal skills to help in the seemingly impossible task of patrolling the country's vast northwest coast.
Border security has become a contentious issue ahead of an Australian general election due this year.
The number of asylum seekers arriving by boat has surged to about 30,000 in the past 18 months, nearly matching the total number of arrivals over the previous 35 years.
Last week, the opposition called for a much greater role for the military in responding to the influx following the introduction of a tough government plan to send all asylum seekers arriving by boat to neighboring Papua New Guinea.
"This is a national emergency. That's why a military-led task force is the way forward," opposition leader Tony Abbott said last week.
THE ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS, Australia (Reuters) - A group of soldiers start to unload from two inflatable boats after a long, bumpy night-time journey off Australia's northern coast, torches scanning the shoreline for the telltale red eye reflections of saltwater crocodiles.
A splash and a cry of "Croc!" sends two men scrambling back into the boats before a large ray reveals itself as the cause of the scare.
The soldiers are from Australia's North West Mobile Force, known as NORFORCE, a surveillance unit that employs ancient Aboriginal skills to help in the seemingly impossible task of patrolling the country's vast northwest coast.
Border security has become a contentious issue ahead of an Australian general election due this year.
The number of asylum seekers arriving by boat has surged to about 30,000 in the past 18 months, nearly matching the total number of arrivals over the previous 35 years.
Last week, the opposition called for a much greater role for the military in responding to the influx following the introduction of a tough government plan to send all asylum seekers arriving by boat to neighboring Papua New Guinea.
"This is a national emergency. That's why a military-led task force is the way forward," opposition leader Tony Abbott said last week.
amazing they can handle a much larger border than we can...we should learn from them
THE ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS, Australia (Reuters) - A group of soldiers start to unload from two inflatable boats after a long, bumpy night-time journey off Australia's northern coast, torches scanning the shoreline for the telltale red eye reflections of saltwater crocodiles.
A splash and a cry of "Croc!" sends two men scrambling back into the boats before a large ray reveals itself as the cause of the scare.
The soldiers are from Australia's North West Mobile Force, known as NORFORCE, a surveillance unit that employs ancient Aboriginal skills to help in the seemingly impossible task of patrolling the country's vast northwest coast.
Border security has become a contentious issue ahead of an Australian general election due this year.
The number of asylum seekers arriving by boat has surged to about 30,000 in the past 18 months, nearly matching the total number of arrivals over the previous 35 years.
Last week, the opposition called for a much greater role for the military in responding to the influx following the introduction of a tough government plan to send all asylum seekers arriving by boat to neighboring Papua New Guinea.
"This is a national emergency. That's why a military-led task force is the way forward," opposition leader Tony Abbott said last week.
THE ENGLISH COMPANY'S ISLANDS, Australia (Reuters) - A group of soldiers start to unload from two inflatable boats after a long, bumpy night-time journey off Australia's northern coast, torches scanning the shoreline for the telltale red eye reflections of saltwater crocodiles.
A splash and a cry of "Croc!" sends two men scrambling back into the boats before a large ray reveals itself as the cause of the scare.
The soldiers are from Australia's North West Mobile Force, known as NORFORCE, a surveillance unit that employs ancient Aboriginal skills to help in the seemingly impossible task of patrolling the country's vast northwest coast.
Border security has become a contentious issue ahead of an Australian general election due this year.
The number of asylum seekers arriving by boat has surged to about 30,000 in the past 18 months, nearly matching the total number of arrivals over the previous 35 years.
Last week, the opposition called for a much greater role for the military in responding to the influx following the introduction of a tough government plan to send all asylum seekers arriving by boat to neighboring Papua New Guinea.
"This is a national emergency. That's why a military-led task force is the way forward," opposition leader Tony Abbott said last week.
amazing they can handle a much larger border than we can...we should learn from them
