ABC Radio Australia presenter Ashley Hall discusses the present state of Australian asylum seeker policy in light of the ten year anniversary of the MV Tampa rescue.  Hall chats with one of the endorsers of our report, A New Approach: Breaking the Stalemate on Refugees and Asylum Seekers, University of Melbourne Professor Gustav Nossal.

To hear the full interview follow this link here. 

Ten years ago this week, the rescue of more than 400 mostly Afghan asylum seekers from a failing boat about 140 kilometers north of Christmas Island sparked a chain of events that would perhaps forever change the Australian public’s attitude to refugees. 

The Australian government wouldn’t let the Norweigan container ship MV Tampa bring its his human cargo to Christmas Island. They were taken instead to Nauru, as the so-called Pacific Solution was born. To mark the anniversary, the Center for Policy Development is releasing a report including a framework for what it calls a return to a refugee system based on compassion, bipartisanship and efficiency. It’s been backed by more than 40 prominent Australians, who say what’s really needed is leadership on the issue.

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Read the full CPD report, A New Approach: Breaking the Stalemate of Refugee & Asylum Seekers here.

A New Approach comprehensively critiques Australia’s refugee and asylum policies and finds they are inhumane, ineffective and expensive.