Immigration
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7th September, 2013 Labor’s immigration policy was overwhelmed by 50,000 illegal boat arrivals after Labor softened asylum seeker policy. Cost of the illegal arrivals exceeded $10 billion and denied entry to legitimate refugees waiting to come to Australia. |
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24th July, 2013 Rudd Government begins to fly asylum seekers currently housed on Manus Island to Australia to make room for new arrivals 15 boats carrying 1200 people arrive in Australia in the first week since Labor's threat that they will never be settled in Australia (there were only 300 places available on Manus Island) |
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19th July, 2013 Kevin Rudd announces a deal with Papua New Guinea to move asylum seekers to PNG and says any asylum seeker who arrives by boat will never be settled in Australia. Later it becomes clear the threat only applies to single males at least for several years |
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29th May, 2013 ASIO tells Senate Estimates that current security checks on saylum seekers prior to the release into the community is a "very very light touch" |
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27th May, 2013 New wave of asylum seekers arrive from Africa (Somalia, Congo, Sudan) via Indonesia. Officials told by asylum seekers they had paid people smugglers between $3,000 and $10,000 for their passage. People smugglers tipped to have earned $400 million from asylum seekers since the election of the Gillard Labor Government - 42,000 arrivals (Telegraph) |
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14th May, 2013 2013 BUDGET • Management of asylum seekers blows out by a further $4.7 billion — more than $10 billion blow out since 2008 • $1.9 billion cut to foreign aid budget |
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1st April, 2013 Record 3,864 boat people arrive in the first quarter of 2013. 2400 arrive in March, the second highest monthly figure ever. Total budget blow outs now exceed $6.6 billion |
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15th March, 2013 Government moves to restrict skilled migration 457 visas - later it is revealed that Julia Gillard's media manageer and three of union boss Tony Sheldon's staff are in Australia on 457 visas New Guinea suspends Manus Island Asylum seeker sead - no transfers since 9-2-13 (Daily Telegraph) |
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12th February, 2013 Labor's homestay program for asylum seekers has collapsed with just four people staying in family homes (Daily Telegraph) |
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11th January, 2013 Asylium seekers are now being brought direct to the mainland on bridging visas. 2,900 bridging visas have been issued in two weeks (including 1,800 in December). 7,648 asylum seekers are now living in the community compared to 7,264 held in detention centres in Australia and offshore (The Australian) |
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1st January, 2013 A record 17,000 illegal boat arrivals in 2012 |
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15th October, 2012 520 asylum seekers in six boats arrive last weekend |
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1st October, 2012 2355 asylum seekers arrive on 35 boats in September 2012 breaking August record of 1969 people on 34 boats. In July, 1828 people arrived on 31 boats. At the end of the first quarter, 6100 asylum seekers had arrived in Australia when the Government had budgeted on only 5400 arrivals for the full year. 442 boats and over 26,000 people have arrived illegally by boat since Labor softened border protection policies. More than 3000 have arrived since Labor re-opened Nauru. Cost of managing asylum seekers average $12 million per boat ($1.37 billion in 2011-12 |
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17th September, 2012 Number of illegal boat arrivals since Labor softened border protection policies reaches 25,000 |
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10th September, 2012 People smugglers routinely call the Australian Maritime Safety Authority soon after leaving Indonesia. A recent boat was just 50 nautical miles from Java and still 150 nautical miles from Christmas Island when it made its first satellite call to AMSA |
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3rd September, 2012 Foreign Minister Carr warns Australia's extra migration intake of 180,000 could be taken up by people smugglers if the trade continues to flourish (The Australian) |
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23rd July, 2012 Jailes asylum seeker crew members earn up to $20 per day working while in prison, making them wealthy upon return to Indonesia says Anthony Sheldon, a lawyer and former diplomat (The Australian) |
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5th June, 2012 19 Tamils arrested over $6.5 million credit card skimming racket operated from Perth to fund passage of of former Tamil Tiger guerillas to Australia by boat (The Australian) |
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4th June, 2012 1176 asylum seekers arrive in May, the largest number since August 2001, which prompted the Howard Government to implement the Pacific solution. Four boats arrive on the first four days of June carrying 331 saylum seekers (Labor has budgeted on 450 asylum seekrs arriveing per month) Already 3700 asylum seekers have arrived by boat in 2012 - compared with 4565 for the whole of 2011 (The Australian) |
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4th June, 2012 People smugglers including Iraqi "head of the smugglers, Captain Emad" among asylum seekers entering Australia in 2009-10 by boat. Captain Emad now lives in Canberra with his wife and family. He is alleged to have been sent to Australia by Jakarta based smuggling head Abu Ali al Kuwaiti to establish an Australian base (Four Corners) |
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1st June, 2012 For the second time in five months Australia has allowed a priority people smuggling suspect to be returned home because of weak evidence against him. Sajjed Hussan Noor and Zanin Ali have been flown home in embarrassing failure of Government whih boasted of their arrest in October (The Australian) |
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22nd May, 2012 Government admits that Department of Immigration budget is based on 450 asylum seekers arriving per month in 2012-13 even though there were 947 arrivals in April and an average of 659 a month since November 2011 (Senate Estimates) |
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3rd May, 2012 Government to pay 5000 families up to $300 a week to house asylum seekers in their own homes (including some who have been refused visa) 1000 asylum seekers have now been released into the community (Telegraph) |
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12th April, 2012 People smugglers estimated to have been paid $2.5 million by 256 asylum seekers arriving in just 24 hours - the largest number of arrivals in a day since 2001. 1673 asylum seekers (including 574 children) now in community detention while 3322 are in detention centres |
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13th February, 2012 Government tells Senate Inquiry that it expects half of asylum seekers will be living in the community by 2012-13, 30 percent on bridging visas and 20 percent in community detention. Government predicts that asylum seekers will arrive at the rate of 450 a month in 2012-13 even though 1700 had arrived in November and December 2011 |
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25th January, 2012 Labor claims it would cost $2 billion to run a refugee processing centre on Nauru over 4 years whereas the former Coalition Government ran Nauru and Manus Island for 6 years for just $300 million |
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11th January, 2012 A Parliamentary Library report puts the cost of asylum seekers now at more than $1 billion a year |
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28th December, 2011 Christmas-Eve arrival pushes the number of asylum seekers in December 2011 to 1,080, the second highest number ever (1,645 came in August 2001 including 433 rescued by the Tampa. 2010 produced the largest number of arrivals ever - 6,535 (2001 saw 5,516 boat arrivals). In 2011 the total number of boat arrivals was 4,573 - half coming after the Government announced its onshore processing arrangements on 11-10-2011 |
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15th November, 2011 Ten boats carrying more than 600 asylum seekers and crew arrive in Australia in the first month since the Government introduced on-shore processing - 100 boats have now arrived since the last election |
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24th October, 2011 Three more vessels arrive bringing the number of asylum seekers to arrive in Australia following the signing of the 800 for 4,000 Malaysia deal on 25-7-2011 to 913 |
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5th October, 2011 372 allegations of assault in the immigration detention network have been reported in the year to June 2011, including one every ten days of sexual assault (The Australian) |
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4th October, 2011 Buying cigarettes for immigration detainees is costing $4,000 a day while the Government spends millions on anti smoking campaigns (Herald Sun) |
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30th September, 2011 The average time taken to process an asylum seeker in Australia has blown out to 304 days compared with 103 days in 2008-09 (Daily Telegraph) |
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1st September, 2011 High Court rejects the Government's Malaysian asylum seeker deal. Justice Kiefel says Minister Bowen does not understand his own Act Government says 4000 asylum seekers in Malaysia will still come to Australia at Australian expense even though Australia will no longer send 800 to Malaysia Currently there are 4427 asylum seekers in detention on mainland Australia and 811 on Christmas Island - 889 of that number claim to be minors Thousands more asylum seekers are expected in Australia in the weeks following the decision |
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3rd August, 2011 People smugglers tell customers to send their children to Australia as they will not be sent to Malaysia unaccompanied (The Australian) The Immigration Minister backs down and says 560 asylum seekers who arrived in Australia after May 7 will be processed in Australia. This statement confirmed what people smugglers had told their clients and further undermined the Government's credibility |
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1st August, 2011 The first boat load of asylum seekers arrives only five days after the Government signs its processing deal with Malaysia The Malaysia solution will cost $292 million and result in 4000 asylum seekers coming to Australia and just 800 going to Malaysia. Malaysia can choose who it takes Since Labor relaxed border controls, 11,839 people have arrived on 235 boats. 6,500 boat arrivals are being held in detention compared with 4 when Labor came to office |
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18th July, 2011 The Attorney Generals Department tells Senate Committee that taxpayers have spent $8.6 million defending Indonesians charged with people smuggling offences at an average cost of $20,000. 138 have been convicted, 292 more are charged and another 62 are under investigation (The Australian) |
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2nd June, 2011 After 5 years in Australia, 80% of Afghan and Iraqui refugees remain unemployed |
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19th May, 2011 Malaysia says it will not take any Australian asylum seekers until the 5 for 1 swap deal is finalised and signed |
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15th May, 2011 Thailand expresses interest in participating in Australia's take one - get five back asylum seeker offer to Malaysia |
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14th May, 2011 Government charters aircraft to move 800 saylum seekers to the mainland to make way for an expected armada of boat arrivals following its Malaysian processing centre deal (The Australian) |
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10th May, 2011 Budget papers reveal the Malaysian Government will be paid $292 million for its 5 for 1 refugee swap deal. Australia will pay $95,000 per person for the 800 asylum seekers we transfer to Malaysia and $54,000 each for the 4000 sent to Australia |
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10th May, 2011 NSW Police take just 3 hours to remove protestors from the roof of the Minister for Immigration's Sydney office but it took eleven days for Federal Police to remove asylum seeker protestors from Villawood Detention Centre roof. (During the eleven days the protestors left the roof from time to time to recharge their mobile phones) House of Representatives |
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10th May, 2011 BUDGET 2011-12 • Cost of Labor’s offshore asylum seeker arrangement has increased by $1.75 billion since last year’s Budget • Labor’s Malaysian solution is estimated to cost $292 million - to send 800 boat arrivals to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 refugees from Malaysia settling in Australia • $216 million to increase the number of refugee places in Australia by 4000 over four years • $43.6 million budgeted over 3 years for infrastructure on Christmas Island • An extra $108 million has been provided for legal costs associated with asylum seeker appeals |
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7th May, 2011 Government announces plans to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia but to take 4000 refugees from Malaysia. The scheme will cost another $300 million |
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5th May, 2011 A Department of Immigration survey has found that, five years after arriving in Australia, 83.5% of refugee and humanitarian entrants are still receiving social security benefits and less than a third have jobs. only 9% of Afghans and 11% of Iraqi's have jobs |
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2nd May, 2011 More than 70% of asylum seekers who have had their applications refused since late 2008 have had their refusal overturned or reviewed (The Australian) More than 60% of refugees have not found a job after 5 years in Australia (Telegraph) |
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29th April, 2011 Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horte says that "we will not agree to set up an asylum seeker processing centre in the country" slamming the door shut on Julia Gillard's East Timor solution for illegal entrants (SMH) |
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25th April, 2011 Government announces plans to restore temporary protection visas but only for asylum seekers who have been convicted of offences when in detention |
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23rd April, 2011 In the face of almost 6819 asylum seekers (including 1030 children) in Australia, in March, refugee campaigner Robert Manne admits softer immigration policies have led to a resurgance of people smuggling (The Australian editorial) |
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23rd April, 2011 Immigration Department confirms that all three asylum seekers convited of rioting on Christmas Island in December 2009 were granted entry visas one year later |
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23rd April, 2011 The Australian newspaper reports there are currently 4465 asylum seekers in detention on mainland Australia at 11 locations with a further 1929 on Christmas Island. Three new mainland locations are to open by mid year. The Sunday Mail on 8-5-11 put the number at 4442 on Christmas Island and 1680 on the mainland. In 2010, 6535 asylum seekers entered Australia on 134 boats. This year, 1133 have arrived already on 20 boats |
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21st April, 2011 Average time spent in detention by asylum seekers has tripled to 214 days since the Labor Government suspended processing of Sri Lankan and Afghan applicants last year (The Australian) |
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20th April, 2011 Asylum seekers at Villawood Detention Centre riot and burn down at least four buildings (some reports say nine buildings). Asylum seekers on roof throw ceramic roof tiles at firemen trying to extinguish the blaze. Some asylum seekers stay on the roof for more than a week. Protests spread to Curtain and Christmas Island centres four days later |
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19th April, 2011 $4 million to be spent on legal aid to crew members of asylum seeker boats to defend people smuggling charges this year (The Australian) |
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1st April, 2011 Labor Government announces plan to spend $15 million to upgrade Pontville army base in Tasmania to receive 400 single asylum seekers |
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24th March, 2011 Not one Afghan asylum seeker has been returned to Afghanistan against their will since the election of the Labor Government in spite of claims that Minister Bowen had negotiated an agreement to return failed asylum seekers (The Australian) |
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14th March, 2011 Extra police fly to Christmas Island after at least 100 asylum seekers walk through a hole in the fence at the Island's detention centre following an escape by a further 100 the previous day. Locals are reported as saying number of asylum seekers wandering free is much higher. More than 2500 people are now held at Christmas Island in accommodation designed for only 500. More than 50% of the 6500 in detention in Australia have been there for more than 6 months (20% a year) |
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4th March, 2011 The Gillard Labor Government announces a new $9.2 million, 1500 place detention centre near Darwin as flood of asylum seekers continues. Later, Labor admits this figure does not include $24 million/year leasing costs. As of 4-3-2011 there are 6293 asylum seekers in detention, 2625 on Christmas Island and 3668 on the mainland. East Timor's Secretary of State, Agio Pereira says there is "no momentum" for Julia Gillard's proposed regional processing centre in East Timor |
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3rd March, 2011 All of the detainees who escaped from Villawood Detention Centre on 29-3-2010 (3) and 25-5-2010 (6) are still at large |
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17th February, 2011 96% of all Afghan asylum seeker claims finalised last year were successful smashing Labor's claim that it would deter people smugglers by returning illegal refugee claimants (The Australian) |
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15th February, 2011 Government flies relatives of 12 asylum seekers killed when their boat was wrecked off Christmas Island to Sydney for the funeral and takes them on a harbour cruise |
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3rd February, 2011 Commonwealth Ombudsman reports that on 28-1-11 Christmas Island held 2690 detainees (190 aboe its limit), Curtin 1144 (544 above its limit) and Scherger 301 (1 above its limit) Afghanistan denies that the agreement it signed with Australia allows asylum seekers to be sent back to Afghanistan against their will |
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25th January, 2011 National Institute of Urban Studies says that if immigration remains above 260,000 per year, Melbourne and Sydney will each require an extra 430,000 ha of land by 2050 |
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24th January, 2011 East Timor Deputy PM, Jose Luis Guterres tells the Gillard Government it should build its asylum processing centre in Australia (SMH) |
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6th January, 2011 140,000 skilled migrants are awaiting consideration of their applications and can expect to wait 12-18 months for an answer, as Immigration Department officials are swamped by applications from asylum seekers (The Australian) Government announces new measures to speed up processing of asylum seekers and new appeal arrangements, including appointment of two extra judges, costing $1.6 million |
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16th December, 2010 Up to 50 illegal arrivals killed as their boat crashes into Christmas Island rocks. Refugee Action Coalition blames the Government for the tragedy (The Australian) |
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16th December, 2010 Government issues paper on population policy rejecting a population target saying Government has little control over size of population |
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19th November, 2010 Government figures show that two thirds of all the boat people who have arrived since the Labor Government softened refugee laws are still in detention. Only 100 failed asylum seekers have been sent home. Of 2897 people currently in mainland detention centres, 2677 are unauthorised boat arrivals. A further 2544 are in off shore detention |
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10th November, 2010 Australian Government to provide up to $4000 to help reintegrate failed asylum seekers in their country of origin (Herald Sun) |
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19th September, 2010 Since Labor softened border protection policies in 2008, 174 boats carrying 8,295 passengers and crew have arrived in Australia |
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19th September, 2010 More than 50 detainees have been paid an average of $100,000 each in compensation from the Federal Government (Sunday Telegraph) |
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19th September, 2010 At least 300 asylum seekers move into secret RAAF Base Scherger in spite pof Labor promises during the election campaign that the base would not be used as a detention centre |
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18th September, 2010 Government announced building of new detention centres near Adelaide and Perth to house 2300 asylum seekers and says 700 children and families will be released into the community. Extra camps are being considered for Melbourne and Darwin |
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17th September, 2010 Dept of Immigration is so stretched by the avalanche of asylum seekers that it has written to 17 other departments asking to lend staff |
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16th September, 2010 Of 6,300illegal boat arrivals in two years to June 2010, only 98 have been refused entry into Australia (Aust / SMH) |
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12th September, 2010 WA Department of Corrective Services reports the number of people on remand or sentenced for people smuggling offences has increased from 5 to 20 since 2008. Smugglers are paid a daily allowance, given phone cards, English lessons and free health care while in jail. One person is serving his second stint. (Sydney Times) |
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11th September, 2010 Two Sri Lankan saylum seekers accused of rioting on Christmas Island to be granted visas after charges against them are dropped |
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11th July, 2010 House Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor refuses to commit to opening an off-shore immigration processing centre in the next term of a Labor Government. |
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9th July, 2010 After two and a half years in office, Labor finally sends home an Afghan and an Iraq asylum seeker who did not meet entry criteria. |
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9th July, 2010 Immigration staff instructed to call asylum seekers “clients” not detainees. Currently there are 2,557 asylum seekers on Christmas Island alone plus 47 crew. |
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8th July, 2010 Prime Minister backs down on East Timor plan after their Parliament formally condemned the plan as unworkable. |
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6th July, 2010 Prime Minister announces new plan to stop illegal boat arrivals centred on a new off-shore processing centre in East Timor, but East Timor had not agreed to allow the centre on their land. |
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24th June, 2010 Kevin Rudd deposed as Prime Minister and replaced by Ms Julia Gillard |
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15th June, 2010 Labor Government spends $200,000 a week for special charter flights to bring asylum seekers from Christmas Island to the mainland |
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11th June, 2010 Almost 1000 boat people asylum seekers have been moved to the mainland plus 140 crew members |
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6th June, 2010 4 more boats arrive bringing to more than 6000 the number of unauthorised arrivals by boat since the Rudd Government softened asylum seeker laws |
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4th June, 2010 700 asylum seekers to be flown to mainland Australia in the largest transfer so far 2 staff sacked as 6 more asylum seekers escape from Villawood |
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1st June, 2010 Sajjad Hussein a man wanted by Australian authorities as a suspected people smuggler tells SBS television "the door is open. If the door is open anyone can come in... you'll get fed, live well and get things for free" |
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10th May, 2010 5 Sri Lankan asylum seekers drown as they abandon their stricken vessel 300km west of Cocos Island |
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10th May, 2010 Labor places 70 asylum seekers in a Brisbane 4 star motel Darwin's immigration centre over full just 4 weeks after being opened for asylum seekers |
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27th April, 2010 Sri Lankan National Counter Human Trafficking Resource Centre says Australia's 'lenient' asylum policy, easy access to citizenship and generous welfare system are main reasons why asylum seekers come to Australia. 115 boats have now arrived since the Rudd Government relaxed asylum laws 20 months ago |
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16th April, 2010 Government orders immigration Department to stop checking for illegal immigrants in Australia as detention centres are filled with unauthorised boat arrivals |
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15th April, 2010 New statistics show Australia's immigration numbers have almost doubled since the election of the Rudd Government to 300,000 per year. If those levels of immigration continue Australia's population will be 42 million by 2050, not 35 million as proposed by Kevin Rudd |
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15th April, 2010 A boat carrying asylum seekers crashes into a jetty at Christmas Island |
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9th April, 2010 UNHCR says people smuggling in Indonesia is "out of control" with thousands of people preparing to come to Australia. "Fares" are falling because of new operators entering the business - some smugglers pay spotter fees of up to $500 to identify paying passengers |
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9th April, 2010 New population Minister Tony Burke backs away from Kevin Rudd's promise of a "big Australia" population target of 36 million by 2050 and says the government will not now set a target |
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7th April, 2010 The Rudd Government accepts three asylum seekers from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in return for the US accepting refugees from the Oceanic Viking |
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5th April, 2010 Labor brings 89 asylum seekers to Australia, even though their visa applications have been rejected |
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31st March, 2010 Illegal immigrants complain that food on Christmas Island is poor, the DVDs are old and there are not enough x-box games |
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30th March, 2010 The 100th asylum boat to arrive since the election of the Rudd Labor Government sails into a cove at Christmas Island and phones authorities to be picked up. The 100 boats have delivered 4,386 passengers and at least 225 crew members to Australia. The Rudd Labor Government admits that 271 asylum seekers and 76 crew are currently on the mainland without visas |
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25th March, 2010 UN High Commissioner for Refugees says Rudd Government decision to allow dozens of Sri Lanken boat people to jump the immigration queue will encourage other people strugglers to try similar tactics |
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25th March, 2010 UN High Commissioner for Refugees says Rudd Government decision to allow dozens of Sri Lankan boat people to jump the immigration queue will encourage other people strugglers to try similar tactics |
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24th March, 2010 The number of refugees seeking asylum in Australia increased by 30% last year while claims in Canada (-10%) Italy (-42%) Britain (-5%) and US (-1%) all went down, giving the lie to the Rudd Government's claim that there was a global increase in the numbers of refugees |
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16th March, 2010 Labor spends $4 million on a "combating people smuglging campaign" but the number of illegal arrivals increases |
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19th February, 2010 3 Afghan asylum seekers may be charged following the Coronial Inquest into the deaths of six asylum seekers whose boat exploded after being intercepted by the Australian Navy |
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3rd February, 2010 100 asylum seekers are granted visas and flown to Australia as another boatload of 181 illegal entrants sails into an overcrowded Christmas Island |
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28th January, 2010 Labor decides to allow seriously ill migrants to come to Australia |
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27th January, 2010 Prime Minister Rudd supports an incerase in Australia's population from 22 million to 35 million by 2050 mainly from immigration |
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13th January, 2010 Government admits it approved transfer of at least five Tamil asylum seekers to Australia even though ASIO considered them a security risk |
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12th January, 2010 Number of temporary skilled workers coming into Australia has halved since new Government rules give unions a say in who can come to Australia |
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30th December, 2009 62 boats carrying asylum seekers arrive in Australian waters during 2009 carrying almost 3000 people |
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10th December, 2009 Hundreds of asylum seekers have escaped Indonesian detention centres to travel to Australia |
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3rd December, 2009 Christmas Island detention centre to cost $445 million to run this year. The Government plans to boost capacity at the island to 2200 saylum seekers - more than double its current size |
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9th October, 2009 Rudd Government grants refugee status to boat people suspected of torching their boat and killing five of their colleagues |
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31st August, 2009 27 boats carrying 1240 people have arrived since the Rudd Government softened its border protection policy in August 2008 |
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11th May, 2009 Government figures reveal cost of processing illegal entrants arriving by boat is $38,000 per asylum seeker. Interpreters for asylum seekers are costing $10,000 per day |
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5th May, 2009 At least a dozen of the recent illegal boat arrivals are people making a second attempt to enter Australia testing Labor's soft new laws, after having been refused entry by the Coalition Government |
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16th April, 2009 5 are killed when a boat load of 49 illegal immigrants explodes off the coast of Western Australia |
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8th April, 2009 12th boatload of illegal immigrants arrive in Australia since the Rudd Government's decision to go soft on boat people (total 354 people). The latest boat simply salied past a naval vessel and docked at Christmas Island. During the last 5 years of the Howard Government, only 182 asylum seekers attempted entry to Australia and all were intercepted well off shore |
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30th November, 2008 International Organisation for Migration says there has been a dramatic surge in people smuggling from Indonesia following the Rudd Government's "change in policy" on illegal entry |
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29th July, 2008 Rudd Government announces softened border protection controls |
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13th May, 2008 BUDGET Labor increases immigration program by 37,500 at a cost of $2.4 billion but in a piece of unprecedented accounting trickery counts the cost as a $500 million saving |
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15th February, 2008 Labor increases red tape on 457 visas and gives union bosses a veto power over who can work in Australia |
