Vis a vis my last post about visa applications, I am compelled to note the final section of the tourist visa form. There are a large number of questions about character followed by a stern series of inquiries about criminal activity. One is invited to answer, hand-on-heart, whether one is a terrorist, a slave trader, a child molester, a bomb maker, a money launderer - well, you get my drift, I'm sure.

I can't imagine any actual terrorists answering this truthfully, unless they are very dim. Ditto for pretty much every other nefarious activity that is listed and about which actual miscreants would surely answer 'no'. I guess it doesn't hurt to ask, but I cannot fathom its practical purpose other than saying 'we don't want these kinds of people in Australia.' Or perhaps they are trying to psyche the applicant out of going any further.

I don't really know how we get any tourists from countries whose citizens must complete a visa application to come here. It is long and intrusive and at times impertinent. I know we have to protect the citizenry, but where is the hospitality?