Using printed letters in red, the offender pasted the message on the NSW tourist information sign located on the Olympic Highway between Henty and Yerong Creek.

The offensive statement was observed by a Year 12 student sitting in the passenger seat of her parent’s vehicle.

Boat people are refugees who have the legal right to seek asylum in Australia which has signed the United Nations Refugee Convention. They are usually fleeing their own war torn countries such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

On Monday, the Eastern Riverina Chronicle spoke to the Roads and Traffic Authority regarding the defaced sign.

The RTA spokesman said immediate action would be taken to remove the offending words. This section of the Olympic Highway is an RTA road which Lockhart Council has been contracted to maintain.

“Lockhart Council has been informed of the matter and will remove the words as quickly as possible,” the spokesman said.

John Highfield, refugee advocate for Rural Australians for Refugees, can’t understand anyone being so witless as to deface signs because of the boat people.

“The number of boat people that come into Australia is infinitesimal,” he said.

The total intake for any one year including unauthorised and approved refugees would be around 6,000.

Mr Highfield cited a group of refugees forming the Iraqi community in Shepparton. “They have worked successfully as farmers and have turned Shepparton into a high growth area,” he said.

Compared to those who are in Australia unlawfully, Mr Highfield pointed out, “there are about 60,000 at any one time, mainly from western countries who have overstayed their visas and gone underground. No-one talks about them,” he said.