Abstract
The idea of maritime border protection has been prominent in recent Australian political
discourse because of its coincidence with asylum seekers arriving at Australian territories by
boat. Yet this construct is misleading. There is no maritime ―border‖ and asylum boats, although
the current challenge are not necessarily the most difficult problem faced in managing
Australia's maritime domain. This task is shaped by the geographic, legislative and
administrative environment, which governs how this management occurs and how emerging
challenges are tackled. The resulting arrangements have benefits but also inherent weaknesses
at the points of intersection in a system of co-operation and coordination. The influx of asylum
boats into Australia's north western waters since 2009 has greatly stressed these arrangements
and may have brought them close to breaking point.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 63-90pp |
Journal | Security Challenges |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 3 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |