Asylum seekers

The apple of discord

In 2012 the asylum seeker rush developed into an immigration detention centre crush that sparked detainee riots across the nation. The High Court rejected the Gillard government’s Malaysian Solution at a time when some voiced outrage and others distress at images of capsized boats, refugees in danger and a growing loss of life. Calls for naval assistance increased until the Manager of Opposition Business in the House, Christopher Pyne, likened the Australian Navy to the NRMA of the seas.

Throughout the turmoil and turbulence the Labor government and the Greens maintained their opposition to offshore processing but that changed in August when the Prime Minister endorsed the Houston Report’s twenty-two recommendations including off shore processing on Nauru and Manus Islands. With enough Opposition support in both houses the bill to amend the migration legislation passed.