Tom Ballard's Comedy Lecture On Refugee Policy Comes To Belvoir

In 2015 comedian and broadcaster Tom Ballard set out to examine Australia's asylum seeker and immigration policies. He interviewed refugees, explored the history of the White Australia Policy and met with controversial former Immigration Minister Peter Reith. And somehow he's managed make a show that's simultaneously furious and genuinely funny about an issue that continues to divide Australian and the world.

'When it comes to Australia's treatment of refugees who arrive by boat, there's at least one thing everyone agrees on: the seriousness of the dilemma,' says Ballard. 'Laborites, Liberals, Greens, advocates and rightwing columnists alike always preface their comments on the debate with a sombre acknowledgement of just how "complex", "difficult", "uneasy", "uncomfortable" and "heartbreaking" it all is.

'I'm tempted to use another term: a term that begins with the sixth letter of the alphabet and rhymes with "ducked".

'The situation is ducked. It's ducked up and it's been ducked up for a long time.'

Ballard won the 2016 Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performer and is one of Australia's favourite comedians.

Boundless Plains to Share is a comedy lecture about the history, cost and future of 'border protection' and just what the national anthem is on about with those 'boundless plains to share'.

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