Cartoon by Bill Leak
The Australian
26 January 2004

Australia Day celebrates and commemorates the arrival of convicts and their jailers from Britain on 26 January 1788 on the First Fleet.

Governor Phillip landed and claimed the area for the British Crown, without any permission from the Aboriginal people.

In 2002 and 2003 the Commonwealth Government passed laws protecting the border security of Australia against the unauthorised arrival of people claiming refugee status. In explaining its attitude the Government frequently used similar phrases to the one in the cartoon.