On August 26, 2001 – 25 years ago today – a Norwegian container ship, the MV Tampa, saved 433 mainly Afghan Hazara refugees whose boat was sinking in the Indian Ocean near Christmas Island.
What happened next was an eight-day diplomatic standoff at sea that polarised the nation, and isolated Australia on the world stage.
Today its reverberations continue to echo around the globe as governments attempt to copy our hardline policy to ‘Stop The Boats’.
To mark the 25th anniversary, Mint Pictures has produced the three-part series TAMPA: THE TURNING POINT.
Among the cast of contributors from 2001: PM John Howard, FM Alexander Downer, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock, MV Tampa Captain Arne Rinnan, First Mate Christian Maltau, Norwegian Ambassador to Australia Ove Thorsheim, New Zealand PM Helen Clark, Indonesian FM Hassan Wirajuda, Federal Court judge Justice Tony North, plus several Tampa survivors and a clutch of international experts, including United Nations ambassadors, diplomats, journalists and others.
All three episodes dropped on ABC iview today and are available to stream here:
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/tampa-the-turning-point/series/1/video/DO2557H001S00
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age published a piece on the series here:
And ABC published an in-depth piece here:
Tampa: The Turning Point is a Mint Pictures production for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Major production investment from the ABC and Screen Australia. Financed in association with Screen NSW. Developed with assistance of the ABC and Screen Australia. Producer: Dan Goldberg. Executive Producer: Craig Graham. Series Director: Kriv Stenders. Series Producer: Ili Baré. Consulting producer: Simon Nasht. Development & Story producer: Deborah Richards. Senior researcher: Anna Cater. Story consultants: David Marr and Marian Wilkinson. Original concept: Dr Julie Macken and Miriam Pellicano. ABC Commissioning Editor: Stephen Oliver. ABC Head of Documentary and Specialist: Susie Jones. Worldwide distribution by ABC Commercial.
