Joining the ‘race to the bottom’: The Rudd Government’s ‘tough but humane’ approach to asylum seekers

In 2007, Labor leader Kevin Rudd’s promise of a new ‘tough but humane’ approach for dealing with asylum seekers was a key point of difference between the two major parties that arguably contributed to his rise to power. It was the perceived failure of this strategy, among other things, that saw him replaced as Prime Minister by his deputy, Julia Gillard, in 2010. In 2013, during his second term as Prime Minister, the substantial increase in unauthorised boat arrivals was highlighted by the opposition as evidence of the failure of Rudd’s ‘soft’ approach and undoubtedly contributed to his government’s demise. Asylum-seeker policy was, once again, a key issue in the 2016 federal election, with Malcolm Turnbull’s Coalition government repeatedly warning against a return to the ‘soft’ policies of the Rudd era.