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Her comments follow calls by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd this week, for a “tough, hard-nosed approach to border security”.

However, Ms Kay says that from a human rights perspective, people who arrive in Australia by boat are not illegal immigrants.

“Under international law, people in fear of their lives have a right to get out of the danger zone and ask for asylum in a safer place,” she said.

“The reason for the increase in asylum seekers has nothing to do with changes in Australian Government policy. It is because of long-running conflicts in places like Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. More people’s lives have been put in danger and they feel they must escape. In those circumstances, would any of us be prepared to wait in some fictitious orderly queue for someone to let us out of the danger zone?”

Ms Kay’s concern for the plight of refugees to Australia follows her own experience as a child of Holocaust survivors.

“My parents survived the Holocaust and came to Australia as refugees,” she said.

“Since then, many families like ours, fearing for their lives, have moved to Australia and other countries to seek a safe place to bring up their children.”

Ms Kay, a member of Amnesty International, says that some Australians fear people who look different and worship in a different way.

“They feel that Australia’s way of life is at threat,” she said.

“However, in most cases those families grow up and contribute significantly to the economic, social and cultural life of Australia. They are our neighbours and our friends, and in many cases we are not even aware that their parents or grandparents were once refugees.”

Nationals leader Warren Truss feels that the Labor Government has pandered to “special interests” and left Australia with porous borders and social unrest.