Image: www.walkingborders.net
Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders fiercely demarcates the coastline of Australia as a closed border to any outsiders – boasted loudly and clearly through “NO WAY YOU WILL MAKE AUSTRALIA HOME” campaign posters. Such hostility unashamedly communicates the limits of the Australian Government’s care for those seeking refuge.
What is most puzzling about such vehement exclusion is that Australia is a nation created by colonisers who have perpetually asserted that they have a privileged right to exclusively claim it as their own. Borders are designed and constructed by a privileged few to exclude and disadvantage many. Through the enactment of borders, they define people, place and activity.