Asylum Seekers: An Australian Overview

Asylum Seekers Report

The issue of asylum seekers in Australia has been one of the most debated topics, and probably the longest standing. The public (not to mention the media) appears to be very fickle in their judgement, and many are still divided in their opinion of their matter. It can be argued that is this is so because the topic has received so much controversy, and has had many confusing events that continually seem to ‘point the finger’, either at the Australian government, or the asylum seekers themselves. Such events include the fiasco of the Howard government in 2001 that has since been dubbed the “children overboard” affair, where the public’s response to Federal government action has switched between favouring the government and the asylum seekers. Following that affair, Kevin Rudd then released new policies that allowed some asylum seekers to seek refuge in Australia, which received much praise and admiration. However, public opinion then altered again to oppose the asylum seekers when the violence in the detention centres escalated, many now believing that the best (if not only) way to stop the suffering is to stop accepting the asylum seekers. 

The “children overboard” affair is one of the most frequently brought up event when discussing asylum seekers, possibly because of the outrage and disgust it triggered in the public. This story is one of “’The false accusation of refugees throwing their children over the side [which] was made by Howard, Philip Ruddock and Peter Reith on October 7, 2001…the ‘news’ of these callous asylum seekers putting their children at risk caused an immediate media frenzy.” (“Truth Overboard”, David Marr, News, 26/2/2006, Sunday Morning Herald). This “frenzy” as Marr writes included disgust, outrage, and downright disapproval of the asylum seekers. However, when information was later released displaying asylum seekers attempting to save their children, the shock and indignation intensified to an even greater degree, and was then projected towards the Liberal party, particularly those who made the initial claims. Indeed, most, if not all, the political cartoons that were displayed in the newspaper following up this fiasco were all aggressively negative towards the Howard government:

Here, both political cartoons portray the dramatic downturn in favouritism for John Howard displayed by the media at the time. The first, “Victory” uses many persuasive devices, such as strong emotive language and symbolism drawn in the crowd (suits, the pearls worn by the women, and the glasses of champagne) that all give the impression of a ‘white collar society’, which further isolates the Howard government from the general public with an “us and them” mentality, as the majority of Australia is a “blue collar society”. The second, “Compassion and Dignity”, uses symbolism to display ‘who the real monster is’, clearly and effectively setting the scene, by using labelling to portray the cartoonists contention. However, on the point of if this portrayed the public’s view, a survey that was conducted (23/11/10) showed that only half of the surveyed believed both cartoons properly portrayed their feelings, and all said that the issue was media driven. The “children overboard” affair is just one example of how the public is repeatedly unsure of their opinion on asylum seekers, and how their beliefs change, depending on how the refugees are treated, which is seen in the following actions of Kevin Rudd.