Book excerpt: The first in-depth analysis of the new government's keystone policies. In Quarterly Essay 53, Paul Toohey looks at one of Tony Abbott's signature promises: to stop the boats. Has his government succeeded? If so, at what cost? In Java, Toohey observes asylum seekers heading for Australia and reports on the Indonesian response. He tells the stories of individual refugees, looks closely at people-smugglers in action, and witnesses the aftermath of a sinking at sea. Toohey also examines Australian attitudes to refugees, and what politicians have made of them.