Asylum Seekers: Scapegoats our Politicians Can Afford

John Minns; Kieran Bradley

doi:10.2307/j.ctt19b9mkb.17

Asylum Seekers: Scapegoats our Politicians Can Afford

John Minns, Kieran Bradley

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

It is surely extraordinary that Australian politics has become obsessed by a relatively small number of people seeking asylum. In 2001, for the first time in Australian history, the issue was central to a federal election campaign. It was so again in 2010 and 2013. Competition between the major parties has amounted to a shameful race to the bottom in Australias treatment of asylum-seekers. In this chapter we attempt to explain why the issue emerged when it did and the ways in which political contestation, mass popular concern with immigration and multiculturalism and the requirements of Australian business have interacted to produce, in asylum seekers, an object of political attention out of all proportion to their numbers.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	We Are Better Than This: Essays addressing policies on asylum seekers
Editors	Robyn Cadwallader
Place of Publication	Adelaide, Australia
Publisher	ATF Press
Pages	121-150
Volume	1
Edition	1st
ISBN (Print)	9781921511721
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt19b9mkb.17
Publication status	Published - 2015

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Asylum Seekers: Scapegoats our Politicians Can Afford

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