School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemIs Australia a Model for the UK? A Critical Assessment of Parallels of Cruelty in Refugee Externalization Policies(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2023-06-13)Abstract For several years, Australia has been regarded by some politicians and observers in Europe as a model for hard-line policies towards refugees. At the same time, Australia’s implementation of refugee externalization measures has been subject to considerable scholarly attention and critique. Although the Australian approach has featured prominently in political debates in several European states, this article analyses the implications of a possible adoption of the Australian offshore detention approach for refugee policy-making in the UK, and the consequences this will have for the integrity of the international refugee protection regime. The article considers how states might influence each other’s policies—both directly and indirectly—by focusing on a case study of offshore detention and processing with regard to Australia’s influence on—and similarity to—the UK, to the extent that we observe policy parallels, as the article brings to light substantial policy convergence of detrimental practice of these two countries.
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ItemThe UK’s “stop the boats” policy shows a failure to learn from Australia’s mistakes(London School of Economics and Political Sciences, 2023)The UK government has unveiled its latest policy to tackle “small boat” crossings – one of five key priorities of the Sunak government. Yet the solutions proposed are nothing new, as they seek to emulate what has long been Australian policy towards asylum seekers. Far from being a simple and effective transferable solution, Tamara Tubakovic, Philomena Murray and Margherita Matera explain why such a policy solution is ill-suited to the UK context and therefore unlikely to succeed.
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Item‘Australia-style?’: a model for relations with Europe?( 2020-10-19)During the referendum campaign in 2016, Australia was a reference point for many British Conservative politicians. Since then, the UK government has increasingly looked to Australia for inspiration – it has been regarded as a possible model for the UK’s new points-based immigration scheme, and more recently, it was revealed that the UK government was considering the offshore processing and detention of asylum seekers, a policy that Australia introduced in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. A further indication of this trend is the Johnson government’s appointment of former Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, as an advisor to the UK Board of Trade, a move that was met with strong criticism from within the UK and Australia. Australia also features in discussions of the UK’s future engagement with the EU. Boris Johnson has referred to an Australian style trade deal with the EU. However, such references are misleading as there is currently no Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in force between Australia and the EU. One is being negotiated at present, but the current EU-Australia relationship is based on a network of agreements that may serve as inspiration for the UK’s future relationship with the EU.