‘We weren’t going to be lectured by some of those sanctimonious Scandinavian countries’

In 2001, then Australian Prime Minister John Howard authorized the deployment of Special Air Service forces to prevent the Tampa, a Norwegian vessel carrying 433 asylum-seekers, from entering Australian waters. This decision sparked worldwide condemnation, but it also bolstered Howard's domestic position. Two weeks later, al-Qaeda carried out the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., leading to the U.S.-led war on terror and prompting Australia to deploy troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Howard emerged as the sole foreign leader in Washington on that fateful day. He emphasized national security as a core issue during the November 2001 federal election, asserting that Australia would determine who entered the country and under what circumstances. On the 25th anniversary of the Tampa affair, POLITICO interviewed Howard about the far-reaching impact of this event.

He emphasized that Australia had set a standard for handling unauthorized arrivals, which was criticized initially but later recognized as a sensible approach to regulating migration while maintaining public support. While the Tampa incident and 9/11 two weeks later were distinct events, they both played a role in shaping Howard's approach to security and sovereignty, which he referred to as the "Howard Doctrine."