View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by RMIT Research Repository PhD Thesis Barbara Rogalla Framed by Legal Rationalism: Refugees and the Howard Government’s Selective Use of Legal Rationality, 1999 — 2003. A thesis submitted in fulfilment for the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Barbara Rogalla School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning Portfolio: Design and Social Context RMIT University May 2007 - 1 - PhD Thesis Barbara Rogalla Acknowledgements Several people have contributed to the success of this thesis. I express my gratitude and appreciation for their contribution that expanded the direction of my intellectual development. A big “thank you” and an acknowledgement of intellectual indebtedness to my supervisors for sharing their expertise and providing nurture and guidance along the way: Professor Paul James, Dr Christopher Scanlon and Dr Leanne Reinke. Many thanks to Patrick T. Byrt, Counsellor at Law, Adelaide, to Julian Burnside, QC and to Dr Savitri Taylor from the School of Law at La Trobe University for our thought provoking discussions. I also wish to acknowledge the work of Jack Smit at Project SafeCom for collating and distributing the Project SafeCom newsletter, which contains a database of media references. I have made extensive use of this resource. Thank you to Rob Sheehan at SharpWords for sub-editing this thesis. Sincere appreciation to the late Rebecca Mc Inerney and to Debbie and Tony Morcos for their friendship and support for many steps in this journey. - 2 - PhD Thesis Barbara Rogalla TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction........................................................................................ 5 Chapter 1 Political and Theoretical Background ................................................ 14 Policy Responses to Refugees............................................................... 16 Policy as an Instrument of Framing ........................................................ 26 Arguing Legal Rationalism...................................................................... 34 Section 1 — Case Studies ..................................................... 42 Chapter 2 Showdown at Sea—The Tampa ................................................ 49 New Framing of an Old Issue ................................................................. 52 Entry without Permission ................................................................. 56 Tampa and a Humanitarian Policy .................................................. 62 Morphing Borders, Morphing Policies..................................................... 67 The End of Mandatory Detention..................................................... 70 Detention of Refugees Abroad ........................................................ 75 Tampa Aftermath .................................................................................... 83 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 95 Chapter 3 Detention in the Desert—Woomera......................................... 97 Public Policy on Detention .................................................................... 101 Managing the Policy.............................................................................. 111 Reporting and Accountability......................................................... 112 Changes to What End?.................................................................. 119 Criminalisation of Detention.................................................................. 123 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 138 Chapter 4 A Special Case—Children in Detention ......................... 141 Policy Framework ................................................................................. 144 Service Delivery of the Contract ........................................................... 149 Buffers to the Policy .............................................................................. 160 Home-based Detention.................................................................. 161 Residential Housing Projects......................................................... 167 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 172 Conclusion to Section 1 — Case Studies ............... 176 - 3 - PhD Thesis Barbara Rogalla Section 2 — Themes............................................................... 180 Chapter 5 Bureaucratic Process and Ministerial Powers ................. 186 New Practices in a Slowly Changing Structure..................................... 189 Power within Political Structure............................................................. 194 Excluding the Judiciary ......................................................................... 201 Structuring to Exclude.................................................................... 202 Exclusionary Legislation ................................................................ 209 Taming the Watchdogs ......................................................................... 220 A Much Better Colonisation? ................................................................ 229 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 235 Chapter 6 Politicisation of the Law............................................................. 237 The Law, Judiciary and Parliament....................................................... 240 The Frame Becomes Legal Precedent ................................................. 245 The System Colonises Itself ................................................................. 257 Pacific Solution on Trial ................................................................. 265 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 273 Chapter 7 Formation of the Public Voice................................................. 276 Thoughts of the Public .......................................................................... 279 Rhetorical Threats................................................................................. 287 Of contest and Agreement.................................................................... 297 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 311 Conclusion to Section 2 — Themes............................... 313 Chapter 8 Conclusion....................................................................................... 318 Legal Rationalism Revisited.................................................................. 322 Political Process as a Colonising Agent ............................................... 327 Postscript: The Ongoing Consequences of Legal Rationalism ............ 335 Appendices Appendix A — Onshore Refugees........................................................ 346 Appendix B — Defence and Immigration.............................................. 358 Appendix C — Ministerial Intervention.................................................. 364 References Court Cases .......................................................................................... 365 Legislation............................................................................................. 367 Bibliography .......................................................................................... 368 - 4 - Introduction Being a refugee means taking refuge in a country other than one’s own. Many people are affected by the upheavals of refugee flight. In 1999 alone, the United Nations assisted approximately 17 million such people world-wide to live in another country or to return home.1 Australia was not immune from the upheavals of such massive global population movement. Some, however, made their way to Australia without first consulting with the relevant authorities. They arrived unannounced and by boat. Between 1999 and 2003, about ten thousand people arrived in Australia in such manner.2 Of these, the majority were refugees: The cited report shows that Australian authorities conferred refugee status to 7,339 of the 10,289 arrivals during this time-frame. It is likely that the actual number of refugees among this group was even higher because 2,085 people were in immigration detention, with at least some refugee determinations still in progress when the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs published these figures. Whilst their claims for fleeing persecution thus were justified in most instances, the Howard government generally perceived uninvited refugees as a problem to the orderly process that regulated refugee intakes. This perception translated into a lack of enthusiasm and a hesitation to attend to a documented need among uninvited refugees who came to Australia. 1 United Nations, (2004, 22 April). More Information/Humanitarian Affairs. [Website]. Humanitarian Action. 2 Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, (2003, 12 September) Fact Sheet 74a. Boat Arrival Details. For the method of how the number of refugees and detainees was calculated from the total number of arrivals, see Appendix A. - 5 - Introduction Such perception is not new, and successive governments have been reluctant to accept uninvited refugees who arrived from the 1970s onwards.3 What is however remarkable is the observation that the Howard government frequently sought to justify