well, it seems that bradbury said something about asylum seekers before the election - saying that he would lose his seat, if the government did nothing.
as a result, strong words were said (east timor solution), and gillard (with bradbury) has a photo opportunity on a navy ship - where the navy are pretending to be strong on "border protection" - the reality being, that the navy were nothing more than a "welcoming committee" ... a photo op, with navy personnel , racing around (in rubber dinghies) with tea and bickies, would send the wrong message - but that would be a far more accurate representation of the government position .
the tampa incident was a godsend for howard - he was going to lose the election - but all of a sudden he had something that resonated with the people - and he milked it, for all that it was worth
