Author: Andrew Herd, ANU

The issue of asylum seekers is one of the most controversial and difficult political issues Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her Labor government faces.

The difficulty does not arise from the actual number of asylum seekers attempting to get to Australia by boat — the numbers approaching Italy demonstrate that comparatively few are attempting to come to Australia — but from the perception, perpetuated by politicians of both sides, that such actions represent a government failure and the need to restore sovereignty. Read more…

Author: Andrew Herd, ANU

In November last year the High Court of Australia handed down a decision that has potentially major ramifications for the future of Australia’s asylum seeker policy. The High Court unanimously decided that two Sri Lankan asylum seekers who had arrived on Christmas Island claiming asylum had been denied procedural fairness after being processed as offshore arrivals.

Although Christmas Island is part of Australia, and has been since 1958, the Howard government excised it and other islands across the north of Australia from the migration zone in the early 2000s. Under the Howard government, those who reached these islands were transported to Nauru or Manus Island for processing under the so-called ‘Pacific Solution.’ Read more…