Thursday 2 June 2022 09:07 AM New immigration minister Andrew Giles link to the infamous Tampa asylum seeker ... trends now

Australia's new minister for immigration says the role he played in the notorious incident that shut the nation off to asylum seeker boats convinced him to enter politics but has not committed to overturn the controversial policies from that time. 

Andrew Giles was sworn in as immigration minister on Wednesday, two decades after he acted as a solicitor representing 433 asylum seekers trying to get to Australian territory aboard the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa In 2001.

The Howard Government's hardline response of sending SAS troops to board the Tampa when it entered Australian waters and eventually transfer the refugees to Nauru became a template for the so-called Pacific Solution of offshore processing.

Boat arrivals became an even more hot-button issue shortly after when HMAS Adelaide picked up 223 people from a sinking boat and false reports emerged that asylum seekers had thrown their children overboard to ensure rescue. 

Mr Giles, who was elected as the Labor MP representing the north Melbourne electorate of Scullin in 2013, said this experience convinced him to run for office.

'Before September 2001, I had not given much thought to Australia's policies in relation to asylum seekers or the politics of this question,' he told parliament in 2014.

'I suspect I am not alone. Since then, it has been very different. The arrival of the people on the MV Tampa in Australian waters clearly represented a watershed moment in Australian politics and society. 

'In 2001, I was a small part of the legal team that acted on behalf of the asylum seekers on the Tampa. This involvement, more than anything else, led me towards seeking election to this place.

'We shouldn't forget the story of the Tampa, in all its dimensions. It changed me a young lawyer acting on behalf of refugees.'