The arrivals, and the government's response, have sparked a fresh debate about Australia's immigration policy.
But let's give a flavour of the response to that standing ovation, which reveals more about Australia and its culture wars.
Investors wonder about Australia because the unhappiness with clear instability of the government doesn't tally easily with the strength of the growth rates, low unemployment and low inflation.
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That, in a nutshell, is the message Australia's new barrel-chested minister for financial services, Joe Hockey, has been preaching to anyone who cares to listen about Australia's transformation.
The simple fact that we have never before spoken about Australia's "first bloke" is, I suspect, telling, and highlights the more laid back and uncensorious sides of the national personality.
But I thought I would come along today and just talk to you about Australia and actually start by asking you a few questions, a bit of a pop quiz about Australia.
WHITEHOUSE: President Obama & Prime Minister Gillard Visit Wakefield High School | The White House
So has anybody got a question about Australia?
WHITEHOUSE: President Obama & Prime Minister Gillard Visit Wakefield High School | The White House
Referendums, such as the one 13 years ago about whether Australia should become a republic, frequently fail.
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There is something timeless about South Australia and this is one of the state's best regional areas for indulgence and natural wonder.
Already, Mr Howard has proposed spending more on defence, and he is cautious about making Australia an Asian power, as Mr Keating seemed to be ready to do.
Many Australians are afraid to talk about the most talked-about person in Australia.
As Australia's film-makers were challenging him, its historians were embroiled in a parallel controversy over the truth about violence in Australia's frontier history.
It will apply to firms that mine iron ore, coal and petroleum and affect about 30 of Australia's biggest miners, including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.
Australia's 500, 000 aborigines (about five times their number in 1901) comprise about 2.5% of Australia's 23m people.
ECONOMIST: More moves towards restitution for native Australians
Her advisers have always insisted she's relaxed about what future course Australia might choose to take.
Australia took about 10, 000 children, most of them after Canada reduced its intake in the 1940s.
In Melbourne, Australia , about 5, 000 protesters marched Friday to the sound of mock air raid sirens.
Shark attacks in Australia average about three a year, and this month's spate of incidents is unusual.
The rate of smokers in Australia is about 15% (a little higher for men, a little lower for women).
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Despite the loss, Murray was upbeat about his performance in Australia, which included his first five-set victory over Federer at a major.
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About 200 megawatts of Australia's power now comes from wind farms, so the new Alinta and Pacific Hydro projects will massively expand this output.
Butler also talks to guest host Tracey Tanenbaum about moving to Western Australia, hanging out with his small town's indigenous population, and how he inherited his grandfather's dobro.
In the 11 years to June, 960-odd asylum-seekers and crew have vanished at sea while trying to reach Australia, about two-thirds of them in the past three years alone.
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Ponting's side now take a 1-0 series lead into the second Test in Antigua and he admitted to being pleased with how Australia went about their work in beating West Indies.
Mr Harsanyi put up with it for a time, and continued with his studies, but in 1950 he left for Australia, about as far away from Europe as he could get.
Some merely passed through, en route to the Americas, Palestine or Australia, but about 90% stayed.
The company's overseas expansion plans have been met with suspicion in the US and Australia amid concerns about cyber-security.
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