For decades now, Australia’s asylum seeker policies have been built to cater to certain perceptions.
Boat people
80 more boat people drown
It depends on where you drown, whether dead boat people become news in Australia, suggests Richard Farmer. When you capsize off the coast of Yemen you obviously don’t rate, based on the recent reports of 80 asylum seekers drowning.
Crikey Says: Crikey says: the long view lens…
Sometimes it’s easier to get a clear picture of things from some distance away…
asylum seekers 
The murky, hard to define truth about asylum seekers
The Government and the Opposition continue to kick around the political boat people football, arguing about push and pull factors and discrepancies in policy. But too often so-called humanitarianism is hijacked and compassion comes and goes, writes Chris Kennett.
Is Christmas Island prepared for boat tragedy?
Australian authorities were repeatedly warned over a lack of health services on Christmas Island to deal with a disaster in the mould of yesterday’s boat tragedy, which has claimed the lives of at least 28 people.
Jack Marx: Cruelty doesn’t mind kindness, just cowardice
A wonderful rant by Jack Marx against his fellow News Ltd stable mates and their reactions to the Christmas Island boat crash. “Iron fists in velvet gloves,” declares Marx, against those who claim compassion while preaching cruelty.
Marr: The killer cliffs of Christmas Island
It’s incredible that this boat loaded with asylum seekers was able to get those to shore without being stopped. Why was this boat allowed to get so close to those cliffs? It’s reminiscent of the SIEV X, says David Marr, but this time there are photos and video.
asylum seekers Julia Gillard in damage control
There is nothing that Julia Gillard personally can do to make the tragic situation on the shores of Christmas Island any better. Her task is simply to try and ensure that yesterday’s deaths do not revive the issue of boat people in a way that seriously damages her government, writes Richard Farmer.
Media heat map: Bolt’s (boat) people
Continuing on with our look at election coverage, this week we’ll start looking at opinion columnists, writes Jason Wilson, lecturer in journalism at the University of Canberra.
Spicer: Stop knocking boat people
Everyday a new scare campaign seems to surface about boat people. The Gillard government’s here and there response, caught between Left and Right, has left the population in no man’s land, writes Tracey Spicer.
Gillard calls for an end to “stop the boats”
After a weekend spent lobbying Asian leaders to build her much talked of refugee-processing centre in Indonesia, Julia Gillard made sure to allocate time to denounce Abbott’s affection for his favourite three words: “stop the…”
McCrann: Gillard’s trio of lies
During the election campaign Julia Gillard made three big promises - concerning boats, carbon tax and miners - and all of them have amounted to big fat nothing, says Terry McCrann.
Boatman to the rescue
Who said this year’s election had no visionaries, no heroes? If the Coalition are elected, border patrollers will have a red phone connected straight to the office of Tony “Boatman” Abbott. Whether or not to turn a boat back will be a Prime Ministerial decision.
Meet a ‘queue jumper’
The violent slide between asylum seeker and the international terrorist has worked — asylum seekers are now sources of our collective fear, writes Dr Tanya Ahmed, a psychiatry registrar.
People smuggling: how flawed policy creates criminal activity
The best way to stop the boats is to give people an alternative, writes Pamela Curr, campaign co-ordinator at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
Green deals don’t help a sustainable population
Daily Media Wrap: It’s still early days in the campaign but backroom deals with the Greens and the ALP have already been made, the boat people issue is sinking votes for both parties and Queensland is the hot political state.
Racing for big statements about small visions
Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are falling over backwards to endorse their views on border control and restrictive immigration policies. Both are using the population debate as a political football, writes Mark Kenny.
‘Opportunistic’ Nauru not fit to sign refugee convention
Asylum seeker advocates have lashed out against Nauru’s proposal to sign the UN Convention on Refugees, saying that the tiny island nation is nowhere near ready to take on the responsibilities enshrined in the document.
Henderson: Gillard should check the rear-view mirror
Julia Gillard’s boat people speech last week may have been titled ‘Moving Australia Forward’ but now is a good time to look back on the asylum seekers debate and sort out the facts, writes Gerard Henderson.
Asylum seekers mathematics
The footage of the latest boatload of people to chug through our waters is currently on loop on Sky News. Images of our Prime Minister parading around on a patrol boat dominate the front pages today.
Sheridan: East Timor is not the solution
Finally common sense has returned to Julia Gillard’s actions with asylum seekers, writes Greg Sheridan. But it is a bare bones plan that deserves intense scrutiny.
Albrechtsen: Gillard caught in a wedgie
Julia Gillard is trying to appease both the left and right sides of the boat people debate. If she starts to walk a little funny it’s because she’s caught in a classic Labor wedgie, says Janet Albrechtsen.
Grattan: Gillard has moved beyond the dog whistle
Julia Gillard’s speech on boat people was a masterstroke in walking the line between left and right, hostility and empathy. But it moved way, way past a political dog whistle to something…wolfish, says Michelle Grattan.
