NSW school students may soon be taught to hunt asylum seekers released into the state's national parks.

A document prepared for the state government by the Shooters and Fishers Party, obtained under freedom-of-information legislation, calls for children as young as 10 to be trained in school to shoot semi-automatic, military-style rifles such as the American

AR-15 or the German Heckler and Koch SR9.

The O'Farrell government has refused to comment on the proposal, claiming it is merely a draft plan before cabinet. But senior ministers are attracted to the idea as a way of ensuring the support of the Shooters and Fishers Party for crucial legislation before the upper house, including swingeing cuts to health and education spending.

Hunting squads of heavily armed families in national parks would dovetail neatly with a call this week by the Coalition's immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, for ''special protocols'' for asylum seekers in the community.

The Morrison plan would see refugees now being held in offshore detention released to roam in parks on the Australian mainland, much as absconding serfs were treated in mediaeval Britain. There would be a bounty on their heads, to encourage hunters to go after them. But if they were not shot or captured within a year and a day, they would be entitled to their freedom.

''This firm but compassionate policy would kill two birds with one stone,'' Mr Morrison said. ''Our children would learn that true liberty comes from the barrel of a gun; the illegals would be culled, and others deterred from making the risky boat journey to Australia.

''Julia Gillard can do her Celine Dion act out west till she's black in the face,'' he said. ''But Tony is always going to look better in camo and ammo.''

Mike Carlton

Electronic tagging, anyone? Of asylum seekers on community release while awaiting determination of their refugee status, I mean. Along with suspected hard-core criminals. Oh hang on, we can't do that - unless they've been charged or convicted.

All right. Let's just concentrate on the ''illegals'' - never minding that there is nothing illegal about seeking asylum. But call 'em illegals anyway because it's - you know - got that ring of illegality to it. And bring in some new ''behavioural protocols … with clear negative sanctions for breaches''. And tell the cops when they move in next door.

Behavioural protocols - with negative sanctions for breaches? It sure is an elaborate way of talking about special laws for different people. That's what the opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, seemed to be implying with his novel suggestion that people on bridging visas should be subject to different expectations than others in the community.

He didn't actually mention electronic tagging. That was me. I just wanted to get in first - ahead of anyone else with an inflated belief in their own capacity to communicate through the Ouija of electoral prejudice with the ugly spectre of xenophobia that lurks so close to our national heart.

So, Scott, you've got our attention. What's next? And why the hysteria? Well, a (by which I mean one) Sri Lankan asylum seeker has been charged with the indecent assault of a young woman in a university dormitory in Sydney.

Some asylum seekers on bridging visas - though not the alleged perpetrator - were, apparently, staying in university accommodation when the alleged assault occurred.

Morrison said the federal government had no idea where the 8700 or so asylum seekers on bridging visas were, and it was reasonable to ask why they were in the community without reporting requirements similar to those imposed on offenders who'd been released on bail.

Fair question? Simple answer: the government - via the agencies, such as the Red Cross, that look after the day-to-day needs of asylum seekers - knows where they are. And they aren't subject to strict reporting requirements such as those imposed on the charged and bailed because, well, they're not alleged to have committed any offence.

Of course, it's never hard to find those prejudiced against - and afraid of - asylum seekers. Last week, a radio network aired voter vox pops that reiterated a seething resentment in some quarters towards them. The voices said things like it would be good if a boat or two sank to discourage more from coming (many have sunk; they keep coming) and that asylum seekers are taking jobs and worse, social security, from ''Australians''.

I wonder how Morrison's nonsense will reverberate within his own party, with its strong culture of internal debate over the humanitarian treatment of asylum seekers? The Victorian Liberal Russell Broadbent quickly rebuked Morrison with ''[there should] never be special categories of laws for different categories of people … this kind of vilification of asylum seekers is unacceptable''. There are few angels in this debate and Labor has also been too mindful of pandering to voter demands that it be tough and punitive on asylum seekers. It has re-embraced many of the former Coalition government's harshest policies, including offshore processing, even reopening Nauru.

The 43rd Parliament has been dominated by debate that has failed to satisfy either voters who demand greater restriction on those seeking asylum here or who are appalled by the deaths of those who take their risky voyages on leaky boats.

Which probably goes to show you're going to lose skin either way. And that is why, as some MPs - Liberal and Labor - argue, publicly and privately, the best policy responses are born of principle not politics.

Liberal MP Judi Moylan (with Broadbent, she argued against some Howard government asylum-seeker policies) spoke some of the finest words on the issue in 2011: ''I call on all my colleagues from all parties in this chamber to speak up for a bipartisan resolve. That resolve is to step up our diplomatic efforts for a policy proportionate to the real dimensions of the issue, and to explore durable, humane options to stem the terrible toll of refugees forced to leave their homelands. The real test of our humanity and decency is how we manage when people seeking asylum come knocking on our door.''

Touche!

More Principles, Less Politicking