Stopping the boats will cripple their economy and send hundreds packing, but Christmas Islanders want a policy which prevents the bodies of asylum seekers washing up on their shores.
Christmas Island is a world away from the asylum seeker debate on mainland Australia, but those who live there are at the heart of the issue - they've witnessed horrific boat tragedies, seen the faces of legitimate and illegitimate asylum seekers and live in an economy largely powered by a detention centre.
Those on the remote island have to deal with the grim reality of dead bodies of asylum seekers regularly washing up on their shoreline and still vividly remember the sounds of a boat crashing into razor sharp rocks in a tragedy which killed some 50 asylum seekers three years ago.
"It was a terrible day it really was... the boat pounding on the rocks was awful and of course it was full of kids," longtime local Brigitte Lines said of the December 2010 tragedy.
"I haven't been able to speak about it for a long time.
"We never want to see that again."
Yet three years on, there is still a real possibility of another boat tragedy as illegal arrivals keep coming.
Boats had been coming to Christmas Island almost daily, however locals say there appears to have been a slowdown in asylum seeker boat numbers since the introduction Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's controversial PNG Solution policy.
The topic of how to deal with asylum seeker boat arrivals is emotive for those who live on Christmas Island which is infamous as a prison for asylum seekers and a flashpoint for the Tampa affair.
Many have an 'us versus them mentality' when it comes to asylum seekers. They have seen food prices soar because of the mass presence of immigration workers with generous food allowances. One local, for instance, recently paid $24 for a iceberg lettuce. They resent the fact that the detention centre is the only place on the island which has Foxtel. They don't like that people smugglers are profiteering from other's misery and they hate knowing that many asylum seekers in the island's detention centre aren't genuine.
Christmas Island local Terry John, 70, said there were many who didn't deserve refugee status.
"While some are genuine they are in the minority," he told AAP.
"Recently there were some asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, about six, who were told they had to go to Manus Island and they didn't want to... they said 'we'd rather go back to Sri Lanka then' so they were sent back there on a private jet.
"It's not fair on Australian people who have to pay for this, particularly the unprivileged and the old."
But Christmas Island will pay dearly if the boats are stopped as the detention centre and related services provide the majority of jobs.
A casino which was a hot spot for Jakarta's rich and powerful in the 1990s closed long ago and phosphate mining on the island has also waned.
However many locals want the boats stopped, regardless of the impact on their economy.
"The strange thing is a lot of people would be happy if the detention centre goes," Ms Lines said.
"But they do realise that if it is closed there would be a big slump."
Christmas Island currently has about 2000 permanent residents, plus another 500 fly-in, fly-out immigration staff.
Administrator of Island Territories Jon Stanhope said the island's population effectively halved when the boats all but stopped about eight years ago.
Mr Stanhope told a delegation of Palmer United Party candidates and media who visited the island on Saturday that the closure of the detention centre would destroy the island's economy.
It was imperative for the incoming government to invest in tourism on the island to prevent it from going bust, the lifelong Labor member said.
Christmas Island Tourism Association chairwoman Lisa Preston said tourist numbers had dwindled as many simply thought of the island as a detention centre.
Ms Preston said the island's incredible fauna, including its coconut-sized robber crabs and red crabs, and breathtaking diving spots should have put it firmly on the tourism map.
"But the island's brand has been damaged as the island is always linked in the media to boat tragedies," she said.
Ms Preston said only stopping the boats would prevent boat deaths and people smuggling.
"I get upset when people get stressed about the stop the boat slogans because they (government) have to stop the boats," she said.
"People here are upset by the whole business of it... people are making money by putting other's lives at risk."
Already this year there had been four separate occasions where dead bodies of asylum seekers had washed up on Christmas Island, Mr Stanhope said.
