Don't mention the boats!

Source: Flickr

During the 2013 election, the Coalition (now in government) proudly and loudly informed the public about how many 'illegal' boat arrivals had occurred. They even erected a billboard stating how many arrivals there had recently been. Yet once the Coalition government has come into power, any information about asylum seeker arrivals by boat has been quashed, repressed and hushed up under the guise of 'National Security'.

Scott Morrison delivered weekly press reports on Operation Sovereign Borders, which just involved a lot of 'no comment' statements, and the phrase "we don't discuss issues of national security to the media". Now it has been hinted that there will just be a weekly email.

Does the government even listen to the rhetoric that it's feeding the media? No issue of 'national security' that threatens the viability of Australia being a safe and secure sovereign nation has ever arisen because of a discussion of asylum seeker arrivals by boat. The media has always reported heavily on arrivals at Christmas Island, and no damning national secrets have been released that put Australia in jeopardy. If the government was wanting to protect a state secret (i.e., a new military ship it had in the area) it would redact and omit that fact, not state to the media that it was covering up the entire operation. The fact that they are stating to the media that they will make no comment is a glaring admission that don't want to discuss the issue, not that they can't discuss the issue.

The Liberal/National parties political handling of asylum seeker arrivals by boat is, quite frankly, insulting. Run an election campaign on it, then once in government, embroil the whole thing in the issue of 'National security' and don't let any discussion about it circulate in the media. Except only when it so suits you to manipulate the figures. Then, the problem is gone!