This chapter traces how the Liberal Party came to dominate Australia’s asylum seeker policy despite its origins in a 1989 Labor initiative that introduced detention for boat arrivals. Over the following three decades, the Liberal Party decisively claimed political ownership of the deter‑and‑punish model, shaping both the policy itself and the narratives that justify it. Even in opposition, the party has exerted strong influence over asylum and immigration debates, using the portfolio to cultivate 'strong‑man' leadership credentials and elevate immigration to one of the most powerful pathways to party leadership. Labor, meanwhile, has struggled to gain traction, consistently wedged by public support for the Liberals’ uncompromising stance. Examining asylum politics since 2000, the chapter explains why toughness on asylum seekers has become electorally potent, how key policy 'truisms' were entrenched by Liberal leaders, and how bipartisan calculations have produced Australia’s contemporary approach to boat‑arriving asylum seekers.
