'The investigation into nearly a quarter-century’s worth of boat arrivals, largely from Indonesia – a matter dismissed by Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the weekend as a “passing irritant” – compares the rate of boat journeys per 100 days and drownings per 1000 passengers under each prime minister. It shows the latter years of Bob Hawke’s time in office and the era of Paul Keating were quiet, with only a handful of boats arriving in any year and no passengers drowning. Under John Howard, boat arrivals crept up to about six per 100 days, with a mortality rate of just shy of 26 per 1000 passengers. The deaths were almost exclusively from the sinking of the SIEV X. From there, the rate of boat arrivals tripled during the first term of Kevin Rudd, although the rate of deaths declined to just shy of 22 per 1000 people. The three years of Julia Gillard’s prime ministership saw the rate of boat arrivals jump to more than 55, with the mortality rate roughly unchanged. Mr Rudd’s three-month pre-election return brought the rate of boat arrivals to their peak – an average of one boat every day – but with a lower mortality rate of seven people per 1000 passengers. Mr Abbott’s prime ministership has so far involved eight incidents (57 boats per 100 days) and an estimated 56 drownings from last week’s events (155 per 1000 passengers). Mr Abbott’s short time in office so far, however, means the rates are as likely a coincidence of history as a meaningful comparison.' hazaraasylumseekers.wordpress/
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 07:29:34 +0000
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