The Wire

Lads’ magazine Zoo Weekly has garnered itself plenty of free publicity and criticism by launching its search for “Australia’s Hottest Asylum Seeker’ in its July 16th edition. The call-out was accompanied by a two-page spread of “sexy boat people”, bikini models posing on luxury yachts, and asks refugees who have “swapped persecution for sexiness” to send in pictures and a short story detailing their “tragic” past. The magazine goes on to assure would-be entrants that it wants to shoot them with a camera only.