''People are making up their minds based on what the media is putting out,'' he says. ''If they could see the conditions that these people are arriving in, they may have a change of heart. They're people trying, as we all do, to make a better life for themselves.''

The 59-year-old officer retired on Monday after 40 years' service in the navy, freeing him up to speak to the media from his home town of Perth. He says he's still ''too navy-ised'' to offer a view on the political debate. But commenting on Border Protection Minister Jason Clare's remark that the issue has become ''poisoned by politics'', Commander Learoyd says cautiously, ''It's a statement that is probably going to ring true in a number of circles.''

What he wants most is for people to understand is the ''risks to life and limb that our navy go through on a daily basis'', which he says is not discussed enough.

He's seen it often enough, in one case a sailor falling into the sea between an asylum seeker boat and a boarding vessel, with the danger of becoming trapped. His crews have seen things that will haunt them forever, he says.

The worst by far was SIEV 36, after asylum seekers ignited a fuel spill under the mistaken belief that they were to be taken back to Indonesia. The boat blew up.