By: Mike Hosking | Wednesday, May 23, 2012 8:00 AM

Is anyone asking the question over immigration and why we let some of the people into the country we do?

The Bill Liu case, the Dotcom case - why are these people allowed in? Why are the rules so lax that people with trouble attached to their names get to live here? Are we really that desperate for the money or investment they may or may not bring? Look at the hassle these people are causing. It’s not like the baggage they brought was a surprise. Dotcom had convictions, Liu has aliases and red flags all over his file and yet they still get to set up shop here.

There are many aspects of the Liu case - Shane Jones’ involvement, whether he should be stood down while it’s investigated, whether his explanation over humanitarian grounds is reasonable, why he went against departmental advice - all good questions. But it doesn’t address the fundamental one. What is it they were thinking when these people rock up and ask to get let in? Are there international conventions we’ve signed that say it doesn’t matter how many issues you arrive with that we have to look at you?

Maybe it’s me. Maybe my expectation of who gets to live here is too high. I would’ve thought, perhaps unreasonably, that a few fundamentals would be in place. Like if you have convictions, then you don’t get in. If you have aliases, you don’t get in. I mean is it not reasonable to ask why you need several names? And if you do, no good can come of it. If an international agency has a flag against your name for dodgy activity or concerns over behaviour in other countries, that’s all I’d need to see.

Who needs the potential trouble? The Government policy appears to be that money can buy your way around these difficulties. If you can bring some jobs and some cash to the country, then a few murky bits on the CV can be over looked. If this is the case it’s bad law and it’s low rent morally questionable behaviour. We are not that desperate for investment from foreigners.

And ask yourself this - is all the trouble that Dotcom and Liu have caused been counter-balanced by what they’ve brought to the country (whatever that is)? Look at the court time, the lawyers. Look at the political fallout from having just these two people in the country, ministers, former ministers all dragged in. For what? Here’s the catch phrase that should sum up the policy. Got a doubt? Keep ‘em out!