ABSTRACT
During the last federal elections in Australia, prominent members of the government, including the Prime Minister, claimed that some asylum-seekers, seeking to enter the country in overcrowded boats, deliberately threw their children into the sea, and photographs were shown to back up the claim. The electorate was prepared to believe that these asylum-seekers had unworthy moral characters and should be denied admission to the country. The Howard government was returned to power partly because of the tough stand it took against asylum-seekers, reflecting the popular mood; but as it turned out after the elections, the specific claims about children being thrown overboard in order to attract attention were false. Apparently the Prime Minister was not told, even though senior bureaucrats knew.
