In fact it's downright disgraceful and tainted with a litany of poor policy and inhumane treatment.

There's no dispute that every Australian government has a duty to ensure certain people are kept out of Australia whether it be for health or security reasons.

It's just that sometimes they go too far. Under the Howard government, detention centres such as Villawood, Baxter, Nauru and Woomera became places of despondency and tragedy where many innocent adults and children were caged like animals, sometimes for years.

And of course there was the shame of Tampa and the "children overboard" affair when on the eve of a federal election refugees were accused of throwing their children into the ocean.

Then there were the monumental stuff-ups involving Australian citizens Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon who were illegally detained and in Ms Solon's case unlawfully deported.

So it was with relief to every fair-minded Australian that the Rudd government yesterday announced sweeping changes to our detention policy under which only the most serious cases will be housed in detention centres.

It's not a soft policy by any means, but fairer and more humane to people who have done nothing but seek a better life.