<P> During the 2001 election campaign, immigration and border protection became the hot issue, as a result of incidents such as the Tampa affair, the Children overboard affair, and the sinking of the SIEV - X . This was a major factor contributing to the victory of the Coalition, deemed impossible only a few months earlier, and also marked the beginning of the controversial Pacific Solution . </P> <P> After the election, the government continued with its hard line on unauthorized arrivals of asylum seekers . Legislation was developed to excise certain islands from Australia's migration zone meaning that if asylum seekers landed on an excised island, Australia was not required to provide access to the Australian courts or permanent settlement . Australia still adheres to its international obligations by considering such refugee applications offshore and providing temporary protection visas to those in genuine need of protection . </P> <P> By 2004, the number of unauthorized boat arrivals had been reduced dramatically . The government argued that this was the result of its strong policy towards asylum seekers . Others argued that the decrease was the result of global factors, such as changing circumstances in the primary source nations of Afghanistan and Iraq . </P> <P> In March 1984, Professor Geoffrey Blainey, an Australian historian, made a speech criticizing what he saw as disproportionately high levels of Asian immigration to Australia . Blainey's remarks touched off a flood of debate and controversy about immigration and multiculturalism, known as the' Blainey debate' . In 1984, he wrote a book outlining his ideas on immigration and multiculturalism titled All for Australia . Blainey remained a persistent critic of multiculturalism throughout the 1980s, claiming multiculturalism was a "sham", "anti-British" and threatened to transform Australia into a "cluster of tribes". </P>

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