The Political Origins and Development of Australia’S People Smuggling Legislation: Evil Smugglers Or Extreme Rhetoric?
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2011 The political origins and development of Australia’s people smuggling legislation: Evil smugglers or extreme rhetoric? Jack H. Smit Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Immigration Law Commons, and the Public Policy Commons Recommended Citation Smit, J. H. (2011). The political origins and development of Australia’s people smuggling legislation: Evil smugglers or extreme rhetoric?. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/419 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/419 Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2011 The political origins and development of Australia’s people smuggling legislation: Evil smugglers or extreme rhetoric? Jack H. Smit Edith Cowan University Recommended Citation Smit, J. H. (2011). The political origins and development of Australia’s people smuggling legislation: Evil smugglers or extreme rhetoric?. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/419 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/419 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. The Political Origins and Development of Australia’s People Smuggling Legislation: Evil Smugglers or Extreme Rhetoric? Masters by Research (SocSc) Thesis Jack H Smit Edith Cowan University Social Justice Research Centre School of Psychology and Social Science page ii “The community has been bombarded with government statements that the boat people are queue jumpers, that they are the victims of unscrupulous entrepreneurs in other countries who are making money by providing boats, that they are being used by touting lawyers who want to make money out of the misery of others, and that they are not refugees anyway.” (Senate Hansard, 1996d, p. 2566) WA Greens Senator Christabel Chamarette 28 June 1996 page iii Authenticity Declaration I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: (i) incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; (ii) contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text; or (iii) contain any defamatory material. I also grant permission for the Library at Edith Cowan University to make duplicate copies of my thesis as required. Date: Friday, 30 September 2011 page iv Contents Title page i Authenticity Declaration iii Contents iv List of Acronyms vii Acknowledgments ix Abstract x 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Chapter overview 1 1.2 Explosive political talk 2 1.3 Critical Social Research and labels 5 1.4 The nature of smuggling 7 1.5 A Human Rights Framework 11 1.6 Passengers – or ‘smugglers’? 12 1.7 Research Questions 14 1.8 Chapter summaries 17 2 Methodology 21 2.1 Introduction 21 2.2 Research questions and terminology 22 2.3 Rationale 23 2.4 Significance 23 2.5 Theoretical Framework 24 2.6 Conceptual Framework 27 2.7 Limitations 31 2.8 Sampling Frame and Data Collection 33 2.9 Participant sampling 34 2.10 Ethics 36 2.11 Data analysis 36 3 Historical Overview 39 3.1 Introduction 39 3.2 From the Colonies to Fraser 43 3.2.1 Racism, Exclusion and Fear 43 3.2.2 The first boat arrivals 48 3.2.3 Nixon and Hayden: Analysis 50 3.3 1979 and the Cabinet documents 53 3.3.1 Queue Jumpers 56 3.3.2 Stopping the boats 59 3.3.3 Large steel-hulled vessels 60 3.4 The Immigration (Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill 1980 62 page v Contents 4.4.1 Macphee: Analysis 64 4.4.2 Opposition and Bipartisanship 67 4.4.3 Label Extremisation 69 3.5 Arrival and Deportation of the VT838 71 3.6 Conclusion 73 3.6.1 Research Questions 74 4 The Howard Government and human rights 77 4.1 Introduction 77 4.2 The Howard government 80 4.3 Those Who’ve Come Across the Seas 83 4.4 A Refugee Week Dorothy Dixer 86 4.5 Conclusion 91 5 The Sealed Envelopes Bill – and an Amendment 93 5.1 Introduction 93 5.2 Sealed Envelopes 95 5.3 An Urgency Race against the Court 97 5.4 Invasion of the Frightening Boats 105 5.5 Democrats, Greens and that other dissenter 109 5.6 Bring five people, get twenty years 115 5.7 An Eleven-minute Refugee Convention Waltz 119 5.8 Conclusion 125 5.8.1 Research Questions 127 6 Protecting Borders in the War against the Uninvited 131 6.1 Introduction 131 6.2 Howard’s National Security Blindfold 133 6.3 War on the Uninvited 135 6.4 Criminals Attempting Intrusions 137 6.5 The unwanted Chinese 143 6.6 Forum Shoppers and Pert Two-in-One Shampoo 145 6.7 Parliament’s House of Horrors and a Witch Hunt 151 6.8 Conclusion 156 6.8.1 Research Questions 159 7 Participant interviews 161 7.1 Introduction 161 7.2 Turn your thing off 162 7.3 The activist and the UN Convention 166 7.4 Snakeheads and secrets 171 7.5 The gravely voice from Kooyong 173 page vi Contents 7.6 Conclusion 178 8 Conclusions 181 8.1 Concluding statements on findings 181 8.2 The Research Questions 187 8.3 Research Questions Conclusions 190 9 Four Appendices 195 Table 1. Labels and terms used in Australian maritime asylum seeker 9.1 196 discourse 9.2 Table 2. Language use in two 1979 Fraser Cabinet Documents 198 Table 3. The three-year passage journey of a Migration Legislation 9.3 199 Amendment Bill 9.4 Participant Interviews: privacy questions 200 10 References 201 page vii List of Acronyms ACM Australasian Correctional Management ADF Australian Defence Force AEEZ Australian Exclusive Economic Zone AG Attorney-General AHRC Australian Human Rights Commission AMSA Australian Maritime Safety Authority APS Australian Protective Services ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation DFAT Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade DIAC Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2007 - ) DIEA Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1976-87 & 1993-96) DILGEA Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs (1987-93) DIMA Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (1996-2002) DIMIA Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (2002-07) DORS Determination of Refugee Status Committee DP, DPs Displaced Person(s) EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for EXCOM Refugees FCA Federal Court of Australia G4S Group 4 Securicor GSL Global Solutions Limited HCA High Court of Australia HQNORCOM Headquarters Northern Command (Defence Force) HREOC Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission HRW Human Rights Watch ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IRO International Refugee Organisation IRPC Immigration Reception and Processing Centre MHQ Maritime Headquarters MHR Member of the House of Representatives MRT Migration Review Tribunal NAA National Archives of Australia NM Nautical Mile (1 nautical mile = 1.852 kilometres) NORCOM Northern Command (Defence Force) ONA Office of National Assessments PM&C Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet PNG Papua New Guinea RACS Refugee Advice and Casework Service (Victoria) REEFREP Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Ship Reporting System page viii List of Acronyms RRT Refugee Review Tribunal SAR Search and Rescue SCSB Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills SIEV Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel SLCAC Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee SLCLC Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee SLCRC Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee SOLAS [International Convention for the] Safety of Life At Sea SOP Standard Operating Procedure SUNC Suspected Unlawful Non-Citizen UN United Nations UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees US (USA) United States of America page ix Acknowledgments As a social worker with a longstanding commitment to the framework of the community development of accountable engagement , I hold firm views on organisations as networks for change: I think it’s more often than not the case that some individuals who are not in charge of running an organisation are actually its builders and change catalysts. Thirty-five years ago it meant that I made sure to get on well with the front- desk secretary, those who look after the stationary supply and the people who make sure that there’s coffee and cake. The contemporaries of these central organisers are often the people in administrative roles whose remarkable work is often overlooked when formal directions processes are formulated in NGO’s and government organisations. Having conducted the research at a distance of 200 kms from ECU’s Joondalup Campus, I acknowledge the consistent efficiency of the fabulous Nicky Kemp who knows how the University works and who always had the answers when I needed them.