Mr Benjamin Fullarton1
1The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Biography:
Benjamin is a first-year PhD student in the Department of International Relations in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. His research examines climate and environmental change, how states frame and respond to its challenges, and the impact this has on people in vulnerable situations. Prior to commencing PhD study, Benjamin was a senior policy advisor on climate change within the Australian government, and before that, a political advisor within the labour movement. He holds a Master of International Relations from the ANU and a Bachelor of Government and International Relations from Griffith University.
Abstract:
How have societal security discourses influenced and legitimised approaches to climate-induced migration? Societal security discourse, defined here as the construction of a security issue as a ‘threat’ to a society’s shared sense of identity, has long been used by states to inform and justify approaches to immigration and border control. However, as the impacts of climate change continue to become more apparent, it can increasingly also be identified in efforts to frame climate threats and legitimise subsequent political and policy responses. This use of societal security discourse has the potential to significantly impact approaches to climate-induced migration, which represents a critical issue at the intersection of both climate change and migration policy. This research will examine how such discourses were manifested and utilised by the Scott Morrison-led Australian government (2018-2022) to inform and influence approaches to climate migration. Ultimately, the experience of the Morrison government reveals the potential for societal security discourses to substantially influence approaches to climate change. While avoiding the harsh and exclusionary rhetoric of its broader approaches to both climate change and migration, the Morrison government employed weaponised ‘silence’ as a discursive tool which, while differing from that government’s usual rhetoric-heavy approach to climate and migration issues, served the same purpose of reinforcing a societal security discourse and constraining policy action.