Let's not conflate the gross errors around the Ruby Princess with the distressing fact that tonight 9,000 souls are trapped on cruise ships in Australian waters.

Insecure politicians are talking tough about shooing them away. We have a moral obligation to help these people.

And this also goes for foreign tourists in Australia right now. We should not be publicly urging them to return home before their visas expire. Their home country might be dangerous right now (many will be from New York). No one wants to be on a long flight right now.