By Jane Norman Updated Thu Jul 25, 2013 4:17pm AEST
Video: People smuggler's product 'no longer available': Burke (ABC News)
Video: Tony Abbott talks to 7.30 about Coalition asylum seeker policy (7.30)
Since the 2001 election few areas of public policy have attracted more debate than the treatment of asylum seekers.
While Labor repudiated much of the Coalition's policy when it won office in 2007, it has now shifted ground to embrace key parts of the Howard Government's approach, including offshore processing.
On July 19, Prime Minister Rudd unveiled a new "hardline" asylum seeker policy, announcing all asylum seekers who arrive by boat, without a visa, would be sent to Papua New Guinea and would never be settled in Australia.
The Coalition responded to Labor's plan on July 25, releasing more details about its own policy to put the military and the Immigration Minister in charge of border protection.
What aspects do the major parties agree on?
Both parties agree strong measures are needed to deter asylum seekers from getting on boats and that a ‘regional solution’ is needed to tackle the people smuggling trade at its core, in south-east Asia.
Even so, it remains one of the most contentious, divisive and emotive policy areas.
The key similarities are:
Mandatory detention
Both Labor and the Coalition support mandatory detention for all 'irregular maritime arrivals', arguing it is a necessary part of maintaining the integrity of Australia's immigration system. This policy was introduced by the Keating Government in 1992 and remains largely unchanged. The government currently operates 10 detention centres on the Australian mainland and on Christmas Island as well as a number of Immigration Transit Accommodation facilities.
Community detention
Community-based detention was introduced by the Howard Government in 2005 and expanded by the Gillard Government in 2010. It is used largely for unaccompanied minors and vulnerable families and enables these groups to be moved out of immigration detention centres and into community-based accommodation while their claims are being processed. Under the current scheme, asylum seekers are given housing, an allowance to meet daily living costs and a range of activities. Children also have access to schooling. The asylum seekers must report regularly to the Immigration Department or their service provider and must reside at a specified address.
Children in detention
Expert panel: the key points
- Establish offshore processing facilities in Nauru and PNG as part of a "comprehensive regional network".
- Pursue talks on the Malaysian solution but seek more reassurances about the treatment of people who are sent there.
- Increase co-operation with Indonesia on joint surveillance, law enforcement, and search and rescue.
- Increase Australia's humanitarian intake from 13,000 to 20,000 places a year, rising to 27,000 within five years.
- Those who arrive by boat should not be eligible to sponsor family members to join them.
- Consider turning back boats in the future but only if operational, safety and legal conditions are met.
- Future policy should be driven by a "sense of humanity as well as fairness".
It is both Labor and the Coalition's policy that children should only be detained as a measure of last resort. In 2008, Labor reaffirmed this commitment through its seven Key Immigration Detention Values, which stated "Children, including juvenile foreign fishers and, where possible, their families, will not be detained in an immigration detention centre." Despite Labor’s efforts to move more families into community detention, according to Australia's Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs there are now more children than ever in immigration detention centres.
Offshore processing
Although it dismantled the Howard-era Pacific Solution in 2007, Labor revived offshore processing in 2011 following a record number of boat arrivals, and a string of deaths at sea. This was one of 22 recommendations of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers. Within months of receiving this report, Labor re-opened the detention centres on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.
In July, the newly reinstalled Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced a major shift in Labor's policy: that all asylum seekers who arrive by boat would now be sent to Papua New Guinea for processing and settlement.
Offshore processing remains a key plank of the Coalition's policy. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has promised to expand the capacity of the existing offshore processing facilities within 100 days of winning power. Under the Coalition's policy, re-settlement in Australia is not guaranteed. Mr Abbott has left the door open for the Coalition to maintain elements of Labor's PNG deal.
What are the key differences between the major parties?
PNG deal: Key points
- Asylum seekers who arrive by boat will never be settled in Australia
- They will be sent to Manus Island or elsewhere in PNG for assessment
- Genuine refugees will be resettled in PNG
- The agreement will be in place for at least the next 12 months
- There will be no cap on the number of refugees to be settled in PNG
- Manus Island detention centre to be expanded to house 3,000, up from its original capacity of 600
Papua New Guinea
Under the deal signed by Mr Rudd and his PNG counterpart Peter O'Neill, all asylum seekers who arrive by boat will be sent to Papua New Guinea for processing and settlement. Those found not be refugees will either be held in detention, sent home or to a third country. The Government says the deal means boat arrivals will have no chance of being settled in Australia. The Manus Island detention centre will be expanded and the Government has left open the possibility of asylum seekers being detained in other parts of PNG. According to the Government, there's no limit on the number of people who can be transferred to PNG under the deal.
In return, Australia will provide ongoing assistance to Papua New Guinea, to help develop hospitals, the university sector, and to help provide education and law and order.
The Australian Government says these changes have been introduced to stop people smugglers and stop further loss of life at sea. But the Coalition has serious doubts about whether the deal is legally binding and says many questions remain unanswered.Under the Coalition’s policy, asylum seekers who arrive by boat may be processed offshore but they can be re-settled in Australia.
No Advantage rule
The No Advantage rule was another recommendation by the expert panel on asylum seekers aimed at deterring boat arrivals. It applies to all asylum seekers who arrived by boat between August 2012 and July 2013, when the Papua New Guinea deal was signed. Under the No Advantage rule, all asylum seekers who arrived by boat without a valid visa ran the risk of being transferred to an offshore processing centre. The rule also meant that boat arrivals would have their claims processed no faster than a person waiting in an overseas refugee camp. The Government has not outlined what the average waiting time is.
Bridging visas
This policy applied to asylum seekers who arrived by boat between 2011 and 2013, when the PNG deal was announced.
In an effort to relieve the pressure on the detention network, Labor announced in 2011 that some asylum seekers would be released into the community on Bridging Visas while their claims are being processed. People on these visas cannot work, do not have access to family reunions and are provided with a limited amount of financial support from the Government. In early 2013, the scheme was expanded to include families with young children. Refugee advocates support the use of bridging visas but have voiced serious concerns about the Government's refusal to allow the visa holders to work, saying it could create an 'underclass' of poor in the community.
The Coalition has promised to strengthen the bridging visa program by imposing mandatory behaviour protocols on asylum seekers, and by notifying police and neighbours when they move into their community. Asylum seekers on bridging visas would also be subject to mandatory mutual obligation provisions in order to receive benefits, and in particular income support, as a new condition of their visa.
Operation Sovereign Borders
The Coalition has promised to establish a military-led response to deal with people smugglers and to protect Australia's borders. In announcing the policy, Mr Abbott said the continued arrival of asylum seekers in waters off Australia's north-west coast amounted to a "national emergency".
Under the proposal, the three-star commander would be recommended by the Chief of the Defence Force and would report directly to the Immigration Minister. The commander - either a Vice Admiral, Lieutenant General, or Air Marshal - would be responsible for leading a joint taskforce involving all 12 government agencies with direct involvement in border security.
The Coalition has also promised to lease and deploy more boats under this Operation to relieve Customs and Navy patrol vessels of passenger transfer duties. Mr Abbott said the new system would be up and running within 100 days of a Coalition government coming to power.
Temporary protection visas
The Coalition has pledged to bring back temporary protection visas for those found to be refugees – a scheme Labor abolished in 2008. These visas allow refugees to be released into the community for three years, after which time their need for protection can be re-assessed depending on the security situation in their home country. TPV holders would not have access to family reunions but they would be able to work for the dole. This policy is designed to discourage boat arrivals by giving them no certainty about their future.
Turn back boats
The Coalition has also promised to revive the Howard-era policy and direct the Navy the turn boats back to Indonesia when it's safe to do so. As part of this policy, the Coalition has pledged to provide support to transit countries including Sri Lanka and Indonesia, where possible, to intercept boats leaving their shores.
Under the Howard Government, a total of 12 boats were intercepted by the Navy as part of this policy – named Operation Relex. Of those, four were successfully turned back to Indonesia, three sank at some point during the process (most passengers were rescued but two died) and the remaining five boats were transferred to an Australian-run Immigration Detention Centre for processing. This was a highly contentious policy.
Maritime Commander Rear Admiral Geoffrey Smith outlined some of the risks involved for Navy personnel in evidence before a Senate Select Committee in 2002.
"ADF personnel had not previously encountered these circumstances during non-warlike operations. They were extremely hazardous and volatile situations. What was a law enforcement activity had real potential to rapidly escalate into a violent situation or just as quickly deteriorate into a major safety or preservation of life situation or, worse, both.
"Numerous incidents of threatened or actual violent actions against Australian Defence Force personnel occurred, as well as various acts of threatened or actual self harm and the inciting of violence."
Despite these concerns, several senior Navy officers say turning back the boats can be done again, if it's done right. Retired Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie was Chief of Navy between 2002 and 2005 and was responsible for the planning and conduct of all navy operations. He told the ABC's AM program "the turn-back operation as it was practised in 2001 is a hazardous, risky task because of the nature of the people that you're dealing with. They're people who are intent on getting to Australia and you're trying to turn them back from Australia.
"But nevertheless it's a legitimate Navy operation. It's something that navies have done over centuries. And in that sense, if the government gives a direction to do it, then Navy people will do it and they'll do it well."
While the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott insists Indonesia will co-operate with a Coalition government to turn back asylum seeker boats, the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Nadjib Riphat Kesoema said in May that no such collaboration would happen. The ambassador noted that Indonesia was a transit country and not the country of origin of the asylum seekers heading to Australia.
Infographic: Australia's humanitarian program.
Refugee Intake
Labor will increase Australia's refugee intake from 13,750 to 20,000 per year; at least 12,000 of those places to be quarantined for those refugees in overseas camps. This was also a recommendation of the Expert Panel of Asylum Seekers.
The Coalition says it will maintain the status quo, arguing any increase in the quota is both unaffordable and would send the wrong message to people smugglers. The Coalition will also quarantine most places of the 13,750 places for refugees in overseas camps.
The need to quarantine places has become an issue recently, because for the first time ever, the number of people granted a protection visa after arriving in Australia by boat was higher last financial year than the number of people resettled from overseas refugee camps.
What we know
ALP
- Mandatory detention for all boat arrivals
- All asylum seekers arriving by boat will be sent to PNG for processing and settlement
- No asylum seekers arriving by boat will ever be settled in Australia
- Offshore processing on Nauru and Manus Island and possibly other sites within PNG
- Expand Manus Island detention centre to accommodate up to 3000 people
- Increase refugee intake to 20,000 per year
- Excise the mainland from Australia's migration zone
Coalition
- Mandatory detention for all boat arrivals
- Offshore processing on Nauru and Manus Island
- Establish a military-led response to border protection called Operation Sovereign Borders
- Direct Navy to turn boats back when safe to do so
- Reintroduce Temporary Protection Visas
- Impose behaviour protocols on asylum seekers on bridging visas
- Prioritise claims of asylum seekers in refugee camps over claims of boat arrivals
- Maintain refugee intake at 13,750 per year
Greens
- Abolish offshore processing
- Restore Australia’s migration zone
- Increase refugee quota to 25, 000 per year
- Urgently resettle 1000 refugees from Indonesia and 4000 from Malaysia
- Increase UN capacity to assess claims in Indonesia
- Release asylum seekers into community detention after 30 days
- Give asylum seekers have access to work rights, health care and welfare
What we don't know
ALP
Many questions remain unanswered about the new Papua New Guinea deal:
- The cost of the policy
- What aid has been promised to PNG under the new deal
- Whether the policy will stand up to a legal challenge
- How long it will take to expand capacity on Manus Island
- Where people will be held in PNG if the centre reaches capacity
- Where in PNG refugees will be settled
- Whether those found not to be genuine refugees could end up being Australia's responsibility
Coalition
- What elements of the PNG deal the Coalition would retain
- What behaviour protocols would be imposed on asylum seekers on bridging visas
- Whether the Coalition will maintain the bridging visa program alongside TPVs
- Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has promised to stem the flow of boats within weeks of winning. How would this be achieved and would it indeed happen?
Greens
- Whether asylum seekers will be deterred from getting on boats
- Whether it will lead to an influx of boat arrivals
- How much it will cost to give asylum seekers in the community access to healthcare and welfare
- Whether there is the capacity to accommodate all asylum seekers arriving by boat in the community
- How the Australian Government will increase the UN's capacity to process asylum seekers in Indonesia
Useful links
Papua New Guinea deal - Department of Immigration and Citizenship; July 2013
Operation Sovereign Borders - Liberal Party; July 2013
Immigration Detention in Australia – Australian Parliamentary Library; updated 20 Mar 2013
Boat arrivals in Australia since 1976 – Australian Parliamentary Library; updated 29 Jan 2013
UNHCR Global Trends – June 2013
Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers report August 2012
Select Committee on A Certain Maritime Incident – Operation Relex - Oct 2002
Asylum seekers: where the parties stand - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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