The past 48 hours in Australia has showcased the dramatic complexities of the country’s migration and asylum landscape, and the power of ministerial intervention in this federal portfolio.
On the one hand, the federal government pulled out all stops to safeguard members of the Iranian women’s soccer team from returning to Iran – after competing in Australia at the Asian Women’s Cup – by providing them with refugee status.
On the other hand, as this drama was unfolding in Queensland and then Sydney Airport, the government announced it was also introducing legislation to ban people entering Australia for set periods of time if they held temporary visas from designated countries.
