FIVE years after Saigon fell, boat people were still weighing on Australian minds.
Nearly 250,000 Vietnamese refugees were waiting in camps throughout South-East Asia in 1980, and with our economy on the rise, Australia was considering raising the intake of immigrants.
But the problem of illegal immigration was starting to get air time.
In May, the minister for immigration and ethnic affairs, Ian Macphee, advocated expanding refugee programs.
Cabinet endorsed a migration target of 250,000 in the next three years, with 23,500 allocated to refugees the following year. It comprised 14,000 Indo-Chinese, 4000 eastern Europeans, 600 Assyrian Christians, 1500 Soviet Jews, 200 Cubans and 600 East Timorese and others.
Mr Macphee said the refugee program would be welcomed locally. ''It will be well received internationally,'' he said.
Cabinet also grappled with an estimated 60,000 illegal immigrants already in Australia, a figure reported to be growing by 7000 a year.
An amnesty had been offered to illegal immigrants in 1976, and although many British took advantage of it to become permanent residents, the Labor Party told people not to trust the Fraser government.
Mr Macphee told cabinet the government did not have the resources to hunt down or deport all illegal immigrants. He said the situation was further complicated by the fact ''the grant of permanent residence is so prized that people are ready prey for the unscrupulous: large fees are extorted on promises to influence politicians and officials''.
Cabinet agreed to restrict permanent residence applications to close relatives of refugees and people who already had work permits.
However, illegal immigrants and overstayers who arrived before the end of 1979 could also be allowed to apply. Newer arrivals had until year's end to apply for residency.