Australia’s history with refugees and asylum seekers is complex and troubling. A country which once proudly brought in Vietnamese refugees fleeing the war in the mid-1970s now has a parliament where both major parties actively try to stop the boats.

In the middle of this, we see a nation which simultaneously celebrates its version of multiculturalism calling any new arrival ‘an Australian’, while also fearing the flood of migrants coming to our cities.

The Daily‘s Sam Baran was joined by Felicity Castagna, author of the recent novel No More Boats (Giramondo Books) and a speaker at the Sydney Writers Festival on 2 May at 6.00pm.