Editing Children Overboard affair

{{Short description|2001 Australian political controversy}}
{{See also|2001 Australian federal election}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}

The '''Children Overboard affair''' was an Australian [[political controversy]] involving public allegations by [[Howard government]] ministers in the lead-up to the [[2001 Australian federal election|2001 federal election]], that seafaring [[asylum seeker]]s had thrown children overboard in a presumed ploy to secure rescue and passage on 7 October 2001.

The government's handling of this and other events involving [[unauthorised arrival]]s worked to its advantage. The [[Tampa affair|''Tampa'' affair]] had led the government to adopt stricter [[border control|border protection]] measures to prevent unauthorised arrivals from reaching Australia by boat. Polls indicated the measures had public support. The government was able to portray itself as "strong" on border protection measures and its opponents as "weak". In November 2001, the [[Coalition (Australia)|Liberal-National coalition]] was re-elected with an increased majority.

The [[Australian Senate]] ''[[Australian Senate committees|Select Committee]] for an inquiry into a certain maritime incident'' later found that no children had been at risk of being thrown overboard and that the government had known this prior to the election. The government was criticised for misleading the public and cynically "(exploiting) voters' fears of a wave of illegal immigrants by demonising asylum-seekers".<ref name='TheAge_Hawke2004'>{{ cite news
 | url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/24/1093246520431.html?from=storylhs
 | title=Children overboard the most despicable of lies: Hawke
 | author=Kim Arlington
 | work=The Age
 | publisher=Fairfax
 | date=24 August 2004
}}</ref><ref name='TheAust_MegalFeb2006'/>

Although reports indicated that the strain of being towed was the [[Proximate and ultimate causation|proximate cause]] of the asylum seeker boat eventually sinking,<ref name='SMH20060228_MarrTruthOverboard'>{{ cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/truth-overboard--the-story-that-wont-go-away/2006/02/27/1141020023654.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 | title=Truth overboard : the story that won't go away | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | publisher=Fairfax| author=David Marr|author-link=David Marr (journalist) | date=28 February 2006}}</ref> [[Australian Prime Minister]] [[John Howard]] asserted that the asylum seekers "irresponsibly sank the damn boat, which put their children in the water".<ref name='TheAust_MegalFeb2006'>{{ cite news| url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C10117%2C18282114-28097%2C00.html| title=They sank the boat, Howard says| author=George Megalogenis| author-link=George Megalogenis| work=The Australian| date=27 February 2006| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060313072341/http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C10117%2C18282114-28097%2C00.html| archivedate=13 March 2006| df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Background==
In the early afternoon of 6 October 2001, [[HMAS Adelaide (FFG 01)|HMAS ''Adelaide'']] intercepted a southbound wooden-hulled vessel, designated SIEV 4 ([[Suspected Irregular Entry Vessel]]), carrying 223 passengers and crew, {{convert|100|nmi|km|-1}} north of [[Christmas Island]], and the vessel then sank.<ref name=chapter3>[http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/maritime_incident_ctte/report/c03.htm Majority Report – Chapter 3 – The 'Children Overboard' Incident: Events and Initial Report], Select Committee on A Certain Maritime Incident, 23 October 2002 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917132553/http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/maritime_incident_ctte/report/c03.htm |date=17 September 2007 }}</ref> The next day, which was the day before the issue of [[Writ of election|writs]] for the 2001 federal election,<ref name=AEC_Writs_2001>[http://aec.gov.au/Elections/Australian_Electoral_History/hodate.htm Election Dates (1901 to Present) – House of Representatives], Australian Electoral Commission</ref> Immigration Minister [[Philip Ruddock]] announced that passengers of SIEV 4 had threatened to throw children overboard. This claim was later repeated by other [[Cabinet of Australia|senior government ministers]] including Defence Minister [[Peter Reith]] and Prime Minister Howard.<ref name='Insight20011108'>{{ cite news
 |title=John Howard Interview
 |author=Jenny Brockie
 |author-link=Jenny Brockie
 |work=[[Insight (Australian TV program)|Insight]]
 |publisher=SBS
 |date=8 November 2001
 |url=http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/trans.php?transid=317
 |accessdate=20 September 2007
 |url-status=dead
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830082852/http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/trans.php?transid=317
 |archivedate=30 August 2007
 |df=dmy
}}
</ref><ref name='Senate_MainReport_ExecSumm'>{{cite web
 |date= 23 October 2002
 |title= Majority Report – Executive Summary, Select Committee on A Certain Maritime Incident
 |publisher= Parliament of Australia
 |accessdate= 17 January 2014
 |url= http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/maritime_incident_ctte/report/a06.htm
 |url-status= dead
 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110112120215/http://aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/maritime_incident_ctte/report/a06.htm
 |archivedate= 12 January 2011
}}
</ref>

==Senate inquiry==

A Senate select committee inquiry, composed mainly of non-government senators, found that no children were thrown overboard from SIEV 4, that the evidence did not support the Children Overboard claim, and that the photographs<ref>[http://www.truthoverboard.com/photos.html Truth overboard] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080128193146/http://www.truthoverboard.com/photos.html |date=28 January 2008 }}</ref> purported to show children thrown into the sea were taken after SIEV 4 sank.<ref name='Senate_MainReport_ExecSumm'/> In response, Howard said that he acted on the intelligence he was given at the time.

A minority dissenting report, authored by government senators on the committee, described the inquiry as driven by a "misplaced sense of self-righteous outrage [felt] by the Australian Labor Party at its defeat in the 2001 federal elections". An appendix to their report documented cases where passengers aboard other SIEVs had threatened children, sabotaged their own vessels, committed [[self-harm]] and, in the case of SIEV 7 on 22 October, thrown a child overboard who was rescued by another asylum seeker.<ref name='DissentReport1'>{{cite web
 |year=2002
 |title= Government Members Report – Appendix I – The Pattern of Conduct, Select Committee on a certain maritime incident
 |publisher= Parliament of Australia
 |accessdate= 17 January 2014
 |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Former_Committees/maritimeincident/report/f04
 |url-status= live
 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140116193316/http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Former_Committees/maritimeincident/report/f04
 |archivedate=16 January 2014
}}
</ref><ref name='SMH20021024_MinoritySenators'>{{ cite news
 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/23/1034561551340.html
 | title=Liberal senators slam children overboard inquiry
 | work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]
 | author=Cynthia Banham
 | date=24 October 2002
}}
</ref>

==Scrafton revelations==

Michael Scrafton, a former senior advisor to Peter Reith, revealed on 16 August 2004 that he told Howard on 7 November 2001 that the Children Overboard claim might be untrue.<ref name='ABC20040816_WorldTodayScrafton'>{{ cite news
 | url=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1177463.htm
 | title=Mike Scrafton speaks live about children overboard affair
 | author=Catherine McGrath
 | work=The World Today
 | publisher=ABC Radio
 | date=16 August 2004
}}</ref> Howard said that they only discussed the inconclusive nature of the video footage.<ref name='ABC20040816_Lateline'>{{ cite news
 | url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2004/s1177964.htm
 | title=Howard pressured over 'children overboard' knowledge
 | author=Greg Jennett
 | author-link=Greg Jennett
 | work=Lateline
 | publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
 | date=16 August 2004
}}</ref> In light of the new information, the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] opposition called for further inquiry.<ref name='ABC20040816_NewsKidsOverboard'>{{ cite news
 | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2004/08/16/1177170.htm
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208201930/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2004/08/16/1177170.htm
 | url-status=dead
 | archive-date=8 December 2007
 | title=ALP wants new kids overboard probe
 | work=ABC News
 | publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
 | date=16 August 2004
}}</ref>

On 29 August, Howard announced the [[2004 Australian federal election|2004 federal election]]. On 1 September, a second inquiry composed mainly of non-government senators was convened.<ref name='ScraftonInquiryPressRelease'>[http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Committee/scrafton_ctte/media/310804.pdf Media Release], Senate Select Committee on the Scrafton Evidence, 31 August 2004 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070918101229/http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Committee/scrafton_ctte/media/310804.pdf |date=18 September 2007 }}</ref><ref name='TheAge_1Sept2004'>{{ cite news
 | url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/01/1093938945905.html
 | title=Children overboard to dominate campaign
 | author=AAP
 | work=[[The Age]]
 | publisher=Fairfax
 | date=1 September 2004
}}</ref> While the final report on 9 December found Scrafton's claims to be credible,<ref name='MainReport2'>[http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Committee/scrafton_ctte/ Senate Select Committee on the Scrafton Evidence], 9 December 2004 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910213515/http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Committee/scrafton_ctte/ |date=10 September 2007 }}</ref><ref name='ABC20041209_WorldToday'>{{ cite news
 | url=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1261514.htm
 | title=Senate inquiry finds Scrafton's children overboard evidence credible
 | publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] Local Radio
 | work=The World Today
 | author=Alexandra Kirk
 | date=9 December 2004
}}</ref> government committee members questioned the reliability of Scrafton's recollections and wrote a minority dissenting report challenging that finding.<ref name='DissentReport2'>{{ cite news
 | url=http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Committee/scrafton_ctte/report/d01.htm
 | title=Government Senators' Report
 | publisher=Senate Select Committee on the Scrafton Evidence
 | date=9 December 2004
 | url-status=dead
 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714022158/http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Committee/scrafton_ctte/report/d01.htm
 | archivedate=14 July 2007
 | df=dmy-all
 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Immigration to Australia]]
*[[Jane Halton]], then Chair of the People Smuggling Taskforce<ref name=chapter3 />
*''[[Ruddock v Vadarlis]]''
* [[SIEV X]], which sank on 19 October 2001, just south of the Indonesian island of Java, killing 353 people

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Former_Committees/maritimeincident/index Australian Senate – Select Committee for an inquiry into A Certain Maritime Incident]
*[https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/publications/tabledpapers/18390/upload_pdf/HPP042016000931.pdf "A Certain Maritime Incident – Senate Select Committee Report, October 2002"], full report (214 MB) at [https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22publications%2Ftabledpapers%2F18390%22 APH website], accessed 3 November 2018
*[http://www.safecom.org.au/kids-overboard.htm About 45 leaked Australian NAVY photographs of the kids overboard, being rescued by the sailors]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041125141639/http://www.pm.gov.au/news/media_releases/media_Release1103.html Media releases by John Howard on the Scrafton claims]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041013155640/http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/scrafton_ctte/index.htm Senate Select Committee on the Scrafton Evidence]
*"[http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1189730.htm Scrafton and Howard locked in dispute over children overboard]" (transcript), by Matt Brown: ''[[The World Today (Australian radio program)|The World Today]]'' ([[ABC Local Radio]]), 1 September 2004.
*"[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/07/1017206286982.html Indifference can be dangerous]", by Shaun Carney, ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 8 April 2002.
*{{cite book | last = Kevin | first = Tony | year = 2004 | title = A Certain Maritime Incident the Sinking of SIEV X | publisher = Scribe Publications | isbn = 1-920769-21-8}}
*{{cite book | last = Kevin | first = Tony | year = 2012 | title =Reluctant Rescuers: An Exploration of the Australian Border Protection System's Safety Record in Detecting and Intercepting Asylum-seeker Boats, 1998–2011 | publisher =self-published| isbn = 978-0-987319-0-05|pages=190|url=http://reluctantrescuers.com/ }}

{{Asylumaustralia}}

[[Category:2001 in Australia]]
[[Category:International maritime incidents]]
[[Category:Illegal immigration to Australia]]
[[Category:Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels]]
[[Category:Howard government]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents involving migrants]]