"Stop the boats" is a political slogan used by Tony Abbott in his campaign for the 2013 Australian federal election and onward as well as by the British Conservative Party under the premiership of Rishi Sunak. It opposes the existence of boat crossings by asylum seekers, in support of Operation Sovereign Borders in Australia and against English Channel migrant crossings to the United Kingdom.
Use and effectiveness edit
Australia edit
At the start of his campaign for Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott included the phrase in his launch speech on 25 August 2013, stating "we'll build a stronger economy so everyone can get ahead. We'll scrap the carbon tax so your family will be $550 a year better off. We'll get the budget back under control by ending Labor's waste. We'll stop the boats." On 6 June the same year, he committed to "stop the boats" within his first term. During his first few months as Leader of the Opposition, he had previously spoken in a 2010 joint doorstop interview with Scott Morrison, who was opposition immigration spokesman at the time; Morrison had said that "we will have the solution to ensure that we stop the boats."[1] Abbott was elected Prime Minister with the commitment to honour the slogan as a mandate.[2]
ABC News Fact Check determined that the promise to "stop the boats" had been delivered on 30 April 2015, when only one boat had arrived in 18 months.[1]
United Kingdom edit
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak also made a pledge to "stop the boats" as one of his five promises in a speech on 4 January 2023, stating that "we will pass new laws to stop small boats, making sure that if you come to this country illegally, you are detained and swiftly removed," and that he would "halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists, and stop the boats."[3]
On 19 December 2023, Sunak stated that there was "no firm date" to meet the pledge.[4]
Meaning edit
Criticism edit
Several journalists criticised the term in the United Kingdom. Daniel Sandford, writing for BBC News, criticised Sunak's initial five promises speech, asking "what exactly is the prime minister promising - to 'stop the boats' or to 'pass new laws to stop small boats'?"[5] Stephen Bush wrote for the Financial Times that "no country in the world has managed to reduce the amount of irregular migration to zero. But it would, I think, land very badly for him were Sunak to pivot from 'stop the boats' to 'look at how effective I’ve been at reducing the total number of boats'."[6]
See also edit
- Take back control – British political slogan
References edit
- ^ a b "Promise check: We will stop the boats". ABC News. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ Perth, James Salmon (25 February 2024). "'You lose all hope' — a decade of stop-the-boats in Australia". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ Morris, Sophie (4 January 2023). "Rishi Sunak makes five promises on economy, health and immigration in keynote speech". Sky News. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ Scott, Jennifer (19 December 2023). "Rishi Sunak says there is no 'firm date' to 'stop the boats'". Sky News. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
- ^ Sandford, Daniel (4 January 2023). "What does Rishi Sunak's promise to stop the boats mean?". BBC News. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ Bush, Stephen (8 December 2023). "Rishi Sunak's corrosive 'stop the boats' strategy slides further from reality". Financial Times. Retrieved 25 February 2024.