The refugee laden SIEV-4, the boat that sparked the affair

The children overboard affair is an Australian political scandal, first appearing on the eve of the 2001 legislative elections. The controversy stemmed from the claim, made by a number of senior Cabinet members, including Prime Minister John Howard, that asylum seekers on board a boat off Christmas Island known as SIEV-4 (abbreviation of Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel) in October 2001 had deliberately thrown their children into the water in an attempt to secure rescue. The Government had argued that greater control of asylum seekers was necessary, and these incidents may have helped public support for greater control. It subsequently spawned a Senate inquiry, which found the claims to be untrue, many investigative journalist reports, and several books.

Most political analysts believe the affair had an advantageous effect for the government. With the election campaign in full swing, voters perceived the incumbent Coalition to be strong on border protection, and the opposition Labor Party to be weak.

Subsequent evidence revealed the claim that the children were thrown overboard to be false. Instead, the pictures were taken during a rescue after the boat had sunk. When this was discovered, Howard claimed that he was acting on the intelligence he was given at the time. It was later revealed that Howard had been told the claims were false on November 7, three days before the election, but chose not to go public with the information. According to the Senate inquiry report[1] (http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/maritime_incident_ctte/report/f04.doc), passengers aboard a number of other SIEV's threatened children, sabotaged their vessels, committed self harm, and in at least one case (that of SIEV-7 on 22 October) actually threw a child overboard, who was subsequently rescued by another asylum seeker.

Later, during August 2004, Michael Scrafton, who had been a senior advisor to the Minister of Defence Peter Reith, came forward to say that John Howard was told that the claims that the children were thrown in the water were false, before Howard claimed later that the children were indeed thrown into the water. The Senate enquiry was reopened.

However, during the reopened inquiry, Scrafton's story came under criticism. For example, one claim of Scrafton's was that he and Howard spoke three times on the telephone, whilst Howard had maintained that they only spoke twice.

Scrafton's revelations and the reopening of the enquiry occurred close to the announcement of the 2004 Federal election. With the Howard reelection campaign's focus on trust, many thought this would be a debilitating blow to their public image. Surprisingly the Coalition was reelected with an increased majority. It has been questioned, with the Liberal's newfound Senate majority whether the inquiry will go ahead.

While the children overboard affair received widespread coverage and discussion within political and media circles and was made a central part of the Australian Labor Party's election campaign, the government maintained that the Australian public was uninterested in the entire affair [2] (http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1179098.htm) and appears to have been proven correct [3] (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11042692%255E12272,00.html) with an emphatic electoral victory.

External links

• Truth Overboard (http://www.truthoverboard.com) - political website maintained by the Australian Labor Party.
• Media releases by John Howard on the affair (http://www.pm.gov.au/news/media_releases/index.cfm)
• Contents of the report of the Senate inquiry (http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/maritime_incident_ctte/report/contents.htm)
• Scrafton and Howard locked in dispute over children overboard (ABC) (http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1189730.htm)
• Indifference can be dangerous (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/04/07/1017206286982.html?oneclick=true)
• Senate Select Committee on the Scrafton Evidence (http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/scrafton_ctte/index.htm)