25 years after Tampa, the politics of fear are still setting the terms

2026 marks 25 years since I launched the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre as a small food bank to address the urgent needs of people seeking asylum and living in the community without basic support. Over decades, it’s grown into a movement that supports thousands of people seeking asylum each year, attracts hundreds of volunteers and supporters, and brings out the best in people’s kindness and capacity to give.  

2026 also marks 25 years since the infamous Tampa affair, which in many ways formed the foundations of what has become Australia’s draconian migration policies today. Over a quarter of a century on from the “children overboard” incident that even former prime minister John Howard has admitted “was a mistake”, everyday Australians have shown through big movements like “”Let Them Stay” and “Home to Biloela” that we can embrace and welcome people safely on our shores, and that when we come together and look after each other, we are far stronger. 

But it seems our politicians have not matured in the same way. Instead, they are still seeking to drive us apart to distract from their failings, and as a result, we are staring down the barrel of a dark period for multiculturalism and refugee rights in Australia. Australians are known for our mateship, commitment to giving each other a fair go, and treating others as we’d like to be treated, yet our policies for refugees and people seeking asylum are still among the most brutal in the world. 

As it turns out, 25 years ago, our leaders chose to try to make us fear each other, and 25 years on, they continue to do the same. 

The long shadow of Tampa persists today

The illogical nature of how Tampa was handled hasn’t disappeared. The federal government recently announced a major expansion of immigration enforcement, offshore mandatory detention, and forced removals. As Australians watch ICE raids in the US in horror, we are seeing our own government pulled more and more in the same direction, as it stumbles along taking ever more punitive actions to appease the far right. 

As well as disregarding international laws and the UN Refugee Convention to which we are a party, these moves don’t make economic sense and ignore the richness that refugees and migrants already bring to every corner of our communities, from our international sporting teams, to local schools and workplaces. 

People are being used as scapegoats

The cost of living and housing crises are real and dire. We need meaningful, urgent action and the people in power have the evidence-based solutions and resources to deliver them. Yet instead of redesigning the rules that currently favour the super-rich, our leaders are punching down on refugees and people seeking asylum. 

Why?

Around 100 people are detained on Naoero (formerly known as Nauru), and around 700 people who were medically evacuated to Australia from offshore detention still remain on insecure, short-term visas. Those who remain on Naoero can’t afford basic food and clean water, despite the Australian government spending the equivalent of AU$5.6 million per person on the “offshore regime”, a total of $1.8 billion over the next four years. 

While everyday Australians are struggling to pay rent and put food on the table, the government is throwing millions of dollars per person to a multinational company to lock people up on a remote island in substandard living conditions. Make it make sense. Meanwhile, to process the same people in the community would cost a fraction of the amount the government is spending.

Instead of focusing on reforms and policies that it has control over, the Albanese government is continuing its lurch to the right, now threatening to fundamentally dismantle Australia’s protection system by imposing a deadline for people applying for refugee status. Miss that deadline, and they could be denied the chance to seek protection altogether, even if conditions in their home country later collapse into civil war.

Let’s tackle the real issues, together

It is time our leaders finally realised that in the long term we will all be better off if they just get on with solving the policy challenges that face our country, and stop spending their time trying to get Australians to blame each other.   

We have a choice about what kind of country we want to be. We can keep treating people who arrive here seeking safety from violence and persecution as problems to be managed, punished and silenced, and let our leaders keep trying to blame them for all our ills. Or we can demand that our leaders get on with solving the real problems – the need for more affordable housing, better education and health care, lowering the cost of living and bolstering the economy. 

None of these things are fixed by making life more miserable for people arriving on our shores seeking safety. People seeking asylum are not the cause of our problems. They didn’t choose how much public housing to build, or how much to tax big businesses. They just want what we all want – safety, dignity, the chance to work, to build a life and to contribute to the country they now call home.