You're missing the big picture - give fuel to this bloke and you're likely to have all sorts of yurgens and poms and kiwis charging over there in their homebuilts - thousands of the ******s - not to mention the illegal immigrants!
This is all about deterence.
BUT
This could be a time to test the American - Australian Alliance (DOH! but we don't have an Australian - American Alliance though do we! - foiled again) or perhaps the ANZUS treaty.