I happened into a cafe today and as I'd not had a decent flat white in too long I ordered and sat down on a pokey little stool in the corner. Alone I grabbed a magazine and flicked...

As I happen to be in Istanbul, I also happened to read an article about Turkey. There's a thing going on you see, in Syria, an outright tragedy if you ask me. Thousands of people are pouring over the border between Syria and Turkey. Somewhere in palaces, parliaments and offices people are making the decisions that have lead to this exodus but on the border the people are just running so that maybe in the future they'll be alive.

Refugees numbering close to 140, 000 people have already fled Syria and are seeking assistance from the Turkish government and Non-Government Organisations. This article was a week or so old though, the numbers may be higher.

Back home in Australia we are spared from wars on our borders. Refugees do make the attempt to travel to Australia though and many are fleeing wars. A lot of these people arrive by boat, but it's nowhere near 140, 000. Australia's official refugee intake is 20, 000 a year. It's just been raised but I'm not sure everyone's happy about that. By and large the media I read and the reactions of Australians that are canvased seems pretty hostile to refugee arrivals in Australia.

This is my first blog so I'm not going to attempt to answer any complex questions, better people than me are trying and still not getting there. Instead I thought I'd ask another complex question and maybe you'll all be kind enough to explore it with me.

Above I presented some strikingly disparate figures concerning two countries and refugees. Why does Australia's figure seem low compared to the current situation in Turkey? What makes Australian's hostile to refugee arrivals?

On the face of it you might argue necessity; the Turkish couldn't exactly say no to all those people queuing on their border could they? But Australia says no to people facing drowning on it's border. Critics of Australia's refugee policy mention racism, but that seems a little too simplistic as well.

There is a deeper issue here I feel. Something that goes to the very heart of what it means to be Australian and how that cultural identity will evolve in the years to come. I want to talk about this but first you'll have to allow me the time to explore and collect my thoughts...