Even though the popular press, and the wanna-be-popular politicians, make out that everyone wants to come to Australia - that’s why we’ve got to stop the boats - most refugees end up in countries bordering the home they have run from.  That’s why there were almost 900,000 refugees Iran – probably many more now; almost 2.5 million in Jordan.; more than half a million in Lebanon; 1.6 million in Pakistan; and a million in Syria. And more than a quarter of a million in Turkey.

But hey, we’ve got 30,000 refugees. And we’ve stopped the boats, so we’ve saved lives. Because those people aren’t trying to come here anymore. Australia is now less attractive than a war zone.

Except, those who want to escape to the west now cross the Mediterranean, with even more fatal consequences.

Earlier this month 300 migrants died trying to get from Libya to Italy. Add that to 115 already this year on the same route, and 3,200 who died last year. In 2013, 235 people died trying to reach Australia.

So, we can pat ourselves on the back and say we have stopped the drownings at sea. But I wonder whether we have, or whether we have just changed the sea that these people drown in.