Scapegoating boat people is a true-blue Australian tradition, writes Professor Mary Crock.

In an opinion piece published in The National Times, Professor Crock asserts that the number of refugees who come to Australia as asylum seekers - by plane or boat - is minute in world terms.

"The numbers are manageable.

"Most come because of prior connections with communities in Australia.

"It should be possible to work with those communities to put the people smugglers out of business.

"Instead, we threaten these same communities with heavy criminal penalties if they so much as admit to helping those who use irregular means to seek Australia's protection from persecution."