Okay hear me out. The sounds mad at first because tougher sentences means more people in jail and for longer. Obviously a problem when they are so overcrowded they are actually releasing them early.
However, say for shoplifting you got 10 years in jail. No excuses, no exceptions.
After a short period of time when the justice system demonstrates that indeed this would happen then I'm pretty sure most shoplifters would stop doing it as the penalty is harsh and severe.
Same with most crimes. The punishment is so flimsy and laughable now that people commit crimes with very little thought. Thus overcrowding and silly sentences to try and manage the overcrowding.
How long would it take before people changed their behaviour? A year, 3.
In the short term overcrowding would get worse (so what, they are criminals. Maybe worse treatment in jail would made them think twice as well)
Now I know some have the theory that kids that grow up in bad circumstances don't know any better but surely they would soon learn when they see the consequences of crime.
Same with the 'small boats'. Send the next 100 back. Once they see we are serious they will stop trying to come in that way. Oh no we can't they might drown. Let them. I mean they don't give a fig about us and our rights. They are adults so if they choose to put their life in danger by getting on a small boat then let them. If they need genuine asylum then they should be able to come in via the official channels (lets be honest most of these small boats are not genuine asylum cases). At the moment they keep coming because they see there is no reason not to.
Why can't the govt just stand up and be a tough govt for the short term and see the benefits in the longer term.