 From the late 1980s and early 1990s, boats carrying asylum seekers, mainly departing from Indonesia, began landing on the island.In 2001, Christmas Island was the site of the "Tampa" controversy, in which the Australian government stopped a Norwegian ship, MV "Tampa", from disembarking 438 rescued asylum-seekers.The ensuing standoff and the associated political reactions in Australia were a major issue in the 2001 Australian federal election.