Burnside, Julian

Barrister and author Julian Burnside QC has been a consistent public critic of the Government's refugee and anti-terrorism laws. During the Tampa crisis of 2001, Burnside helped bring legal action against the Australian Government over its policy of preventing the Tampa asylum seekers having their claims heard in Australia. He is Kate Durham's husband. Kate Durham is a Melbourne-based artist who, in 2001, founded Spare Rooms for Refugees, a program to provide community accommodation and other support for refugees. In late 2001 she and other Australian residents began exchanging letters with asylum seekers held in Nauru by the Australian Government. In June 2002 Durham and a BBC journalist travelled to Nauru clandestinely, becoming the first independent eyewitnesses to visit the refugee detention centre and interview its occupants.