One of the greatest litmus tests of the Albanese government will be how it handles the issue of border security. Borders, which, given Australia’s geographic reality, means boats, are an electric issue in the country. On its first day, the Albanese government signalled that it would resist the powerful open-borders lobby within its own ranks and continue the Tony Abbott-initiated policy of boat turnbacks.
Let’s see how long that lasts.
The issue of illegal boat arrivals first peaked with the Tampa crisis, when the Howard government refused to allow a Norwegian freighter loaded with asylum seekers to land in Australia. The Australian public overwhelmingly backed Howard, to the left’s lasting fury. When the Howard government left office, there was a single asylum seeker in Australian offshore detention. Despite Labor PMs Rudd and then Gillard denying that they were “soft on boats”, by the time they left office, there were boats arriving daily and tens of thousands in detention.
Is history going to repeat itself?
The Albanese government has ordered an asylum boat to be returned to Sri Lanka days after Labor’s election win, warning people smugglers “there is absolutely no change” to Australia’s border protection policies.
Note, though, that Richard Marles’ hand was more-or-less forced by the outgoing government, which is who actually ordered the turnback. Reversing that decision on its first day in office would have been a disaster for the new government.
“This is exactly what we said we would do when faced with this situation, and we’ve done it, and people smugglers out there should know that, very clearly,” Mr Marles told Sky News.
“What this shows is there is absolutely no change in terms of Australia’s border settings under this government.
“We will maintain a strong border, which is the right thing to do in terms of protecting lives at sea.”
The Australian
This is, of course, in complete contradiction of nearly everything Labor said about boat turn-backs when they were introduced — with the rare exception of Marles. While most Labor MPs — including Albanese — denounced turnbacks as not even possible, Marles drew fire from his colleagues in 2014 for even suggesting that the party would adopt the successful policy. He was denounced again in 2018 for supporting moves for the Australian War Memorial to commemorate the service of Navy personnel who participated in Operation Sovereign Borders.
So far, then, Marles is staying commendably true to form. It’s what happens if his colleagues stay true to their form that will be the issue.
At the federal Labor conference in 2015, a motion to condemn turnbacks was narrowly defeated. Nonetheless, a substantial and powerful lobby group, Labor for Refugees, has continued to adamantly campaign on the issue. They have some prominent supporters on Labor’s front bench. Whether the ascension of the teals emboldens the group to push harder to open Australia’s borders is an open possibility.
One thing is certain, though: the government’s resolve will be repeatedly tested in the coming months. People smugglers follow events in Australia with precision. The boat turned back on election day was no doubt the first of many that will attempt to crash Australia’s borders and break the government. As well, egregious grifters, the Murugappan family, will have yet another go at gaming Australia’s system. These illegal immigrants tried every trick in the book, including squeezing out a few photogenic anchor babies, to force the Coalition government’s hand. They lost every single court case they tried on, but could rely on the unending support of pearl-clutching “refugee” advocates and ambulance-chasing lawyers to launch a new vexatious claim, every time.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for them to try it on again.
