Malcolm Turnbull, in his 12 months in office, has now repudiated virtually everything he once stood for. He has done this because he has concluded that in order to hang onto his job, after his near-death experience in the July election, he must now appease the mad right of his party in every domain.

This is both bad policy and bad politics: on policy, the far right in Australia represent the worst of the xenophobic, nationalist and protectionist wave that we now see raging across Europe and America; while on politics, appeasement of political thugs like Abbott, Dutton, Abetz, Andrews and, depending on which way the wind is blowing, Morrison, only embolden the far right to demand more, not less.

This is what lies at the heart of Turnbull's latest proposal to introduce laws that would ban someone from ever entering Australia under any visa category if that person had previously sought to enter by boat. This measure is about the politics of symbols, designed to throw red meat at the right, including the Hansonite insurgency, and to grovel to the broad politics of xenophobia. Turnbull, once an intelligent, global citizen, knows better.

In 2008, my government abolished the Pacific Solution. We relied instead on Christmas Island. We pursued a policy of comprehensive regional co-operation under the Bali Process. We also abolished temporary protection visas.