117th daily protest on Manus Island, West Lorengau, 27-11-17 Photo: Behrouz Boochani
2017 was tumultuous for Australian politics to say the least - citizenship issues, beef with President Trump and of course, the worsening crisis with its detention centres in Papa New Guinea.
Australia takes 20 thousand refugees, migrants and asylum seekers ever year but those who arrive by boat are detained off shore. The situation on Manus and Nauru reached boiling point last year, with international advocacy agents and the United Nations highlighting the conditions of the detainees.
RNZ Pacific journalist Benjamin Robinson Drawbridge tells Simon Morton how Australia got to this point.
