What murky and fetid waters has the Abbott government sailed this nation into now? When Fairfax Media reported claims last week by an Indonesian police chief and others that Australian authorities had paid the crew of a people-smuggling vessel thousands of dollars to turn around and head back to Indonesia, it at first seemed too preposterous to be true.

Yet rather than deny any such thing has happened, and deny it immediately and unequivocally, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has all but confirmed it happened. Mr Abbott has been offered every opportunity in the past week to quash the notion that the Australian government did, or might in future, sanction paying cash to people-smugglers. Instead, he has said the government will do "whatever is reasonably necessary" to halt people smugglers.

Tony Abbott's government has sailed the nation into fetid, murky waters. Credit:Andrew Meares

He has said that the government "by hook or by crook" will do what it needs to stop boats from entering Australian territory, and that border protection agencies have been "incredibly creative" in devising strategies. He also says many of the things security agencies do to protect the nation "just should never be discussed in public". And, he says, Indonesia has co-operated in curbing the people-smuggling trade because his administration has not indulged in "gratuitous insults".

That might be so, but Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who generally demonstrates a level of competence above some of her ministerial colleagues, has resorted to the age-old trick of trying to distract attention by stirring up a storm elsewhere. She has pointed a finger at Indonesia, saying its concerns about Australia's tactics would be best resolved if Indonesia enforced its borders.