On the other side of politics, we have the current opposition - the Labor Party. There's a host of minor parties (some more minor than others) but realistically any Australian government will either be Coalition or Labor.
This reversal of policy by Labor is quite stunning. It involves them accepting that the policies they had in place from 2007 to 2013 when they were in government lead to the deaths of over 1200 people (Labor admits to 1200 - it may have been much higher) after years of denial. It involves the success of a coalition policy they have been bitterly opposing and fighting. It is also going to send a large part of the Australian left into a frenzy as the party they support adopts a policy they've been hysterically describing as evil, fascist - they're not going to know what to do.
Outside of politics, it's really quite simple. Australia has a massive coastline, and lies just to the southeast of Asia. As a modern, industrialised western democracy, a lot of people would like to live here. Australia has long been willing to take a reasonable number of genuine refugees who are genuinely fleeing despotic governments, but they have to come here on our terms after we've checked their claims, and we've decided that they are not likely to be a threat to us. They can't be allowed to simply turn up here on our coast by boat - especially as nearly all those boats are coming from Indonesia, which while it certainly isn't as nice a place to live as Australia, is nonetheless a safe place for refugees to wait for resettlement. We decide who comes here.
But besides that, there is also a genuine moral concern for the safety of these people. Travelling here by boat requires crossing at least hundreds of miles of open ocean. It's dangerous, especially when its often done in vessels that really are not designed for such journeys. People die on this journey - boats sink, and sometimes the people smugglers these people pay - who are, after all, criminals out for money - aren't all that concerned about actually making sure everybody who gets on their boat is still on it when it gets to Australian waters. Australia will always respond to the best of our ability to a call for distress from a boat at sea. But even with the best will in the world, we cannot rescue everybody in a sea area covering thousands of square miles. The only way to keep these people safe is to stop them getting on the boats in the first place - and that's why the government adopted the policy of turning back the boats and putting people in offshore detention for processing. It's quite simple - we send the message that if you try to come here by boat, it won't work. You will not make Australia home. We will send you back to Indonesia if it is safe to do so, or if we have to rescue you, we well, but you will go into a camp on Nauru or in Papua New Guinea or somewhere else for processing to see if you are a genuine refugee. You may as well stay in Indonesia and get processed there. That's your best chance to be allowed in. Once this message was made clear, a lot fewer people risk the sea voyage.
