Towards a Just Society, Beyond the Spin, page 11

Plainly, the Government understood that (with an election due shortly) a show of toughness against helpless refugees would be electorally popular amongst the large number of Australians who had responded positively to the far-Right racist programs of Pauline Hanson.

The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, had previously shown his skill in assessing and harnessing right-wing populism. In 1997 he had used polls to assess community attitudes toward the militant Maritime Union of Australia. In helping Patrick's sack an entire workforce, Howard miscalculated: support for the government and Patrick's began to dwindle after images of attack dogs and chain-mesh fences and security forces in balaclavas hit the newspapers and the television screens.

Howard was determined that, this time, the public would not get access to such disturbing images[2]. He ordered that the port of Christmas Island, be closed to ensure that no boats could approach the Tampa. The SAS took control of the ship. The Captain was allowed only minimal contact with the outside world.

He said later:

"First we were told to bring them to Christmas Island, then they (the Australian government) changed their minds and said that the refugees were not allowed to disembark at any account. I got mad. … I have seen most of what there is to see in this profession, but what I experienced on this trip is the worst. When we asked for food and medicine for the refugees, the Australians sent commando troops onboard. This created a very high tension among the refugees. After an hour of checking the refugees, the troops agreed to give medical assistance to some of them. The soldiers obviously didn't like their mission."

The press were not allowed anywhere near the ship. Despite repeated requests from lawyers and others, no Australian was allowed to speak to any of the refugees. The physical circumstances meant that no images of individual refugees were available. At best, film footage showed distant images of tiny figures huddling in front of stacked containers on the deck of the ship.

By the same technique, the stories of the refugees were suppressed. By preventing the press from having any access to the refugees, the Government was able to advance its cynical objectives with dishonest rhetoric, unimpeded by facts. Although the misery of the refugees’ situation was obvious enough none of them could be seen as human beings. None of them could tell their stories. Howard’s crucial aim was achieved: the refugees were not seen publicly as individual people for whom Australian citizens could have human sympathy.

The importance of that aspect of the government's strategy was made clear on 23 October. On that day, Australia learned that, a few days earlier, a boat had set sail from Indonesia, bound for Australia. 421 asylum seekers had crowded onto a boat suitable for 100. Indonesian security forces had herded them onto the boat at gunpoint. The boat sank in mid-ocean, and 353 were drowned. The survivors told the story, in harrowing detail. It was front-page news for days: and tragic images of individuals and their stories of grief and loss dominated the news. Suddenly, the asylum seekers really were human beings who called on our human sympathy.

The government and the opposition made noises of compassion. The government agreed to take some of the survivors. Apparently it is necessary to drown at sea to demonstrate the required level of need.

The government's stated concern to help those most in need looked initially like a concern to help those whose distress was most visible to the public. With hindsight, it may be that the government's willingness to take some survivors had another motive: evidence given to a Senate enquiry is creating a very clear picture that the boat, SIEV X[3], was sabotaged by Australian agents in Indonesia, and was ignored by Australian surveillance aircraft.