Leaky Boats Film Analysis

Through the documentary, Leaky Boats, we are given an opportunity to look closely into a number of situations that occurred surrounding refugee boats coming from Indonesia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The documentary takes a deeper look into the events that lead to John Howard’s election for Prime Minister of Australia in 2001, claiming the direct relation to the events that began with the Tampa and his win. Through this documentary, we see the typical 20th century focus on the economic responsibilities that come along with the allowing refugees into the nations. Even bigger than that, this fear also comes from the possibility of terrorism, a challenge still seen today. In the end, we see that seventy percent of the refugees prove to be legitimate
After the September 11th attacks, Australia feared similar attacks against their own nation. John Howard used this to his advantage and began using the Navy to stop ships from entering Australia. These actions did not work and led to a number of cover-ups within the Australian government. They were portraying these refugees as animals that would throw their own children into the sea, an event that never truly happened. This same theme of fear is common around the globe today. Many countries, including our own fear the threat of terrorism so greatly that we turn away refugees. You can see examples of this during the Holocaust during WWII, but also similar situations occurring with Syrian refugees today. Eventually in Australia, the truth was expelled, but did not lead to the outcome one would expect. After discovering a cover-up within the government, it is reasonable to believe that there would be backlash. This is not seen in Australia. In fact, the polls actually rise for John Howard, securing his success in the campaign for Prime Minister. It is clear to see the different ways the Prime Minister and his men used the fear from the events with the boats to bolster his campaign. Through the deceit of the Australian nation, these refugees’, people fleeing a repressive regime, were comparable to