Subjects: Operation Sovereign Borders; Labor’s border security crisis; alcohol in Parliament House.
E&OE.
NATALIE BARR:
Well, returning to our top story now, and the Federal Government has been accused by the Opposition of losing control of our borders. It comes after two groups of more than 40 asylum seekers seemingly bypassed Australian Border Force surveillance and made landfall in a remote part of Western Australia. They spent less than 48 hours in our country before being flown offshore to Nauru over the weekend. But the incident has reignited the political debate around immigration control. We asked the Prime Minister and Immigration Minister to join us on the program this morning, but they were both unavailable.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton joins me now. Good morning to you Mr Dutton.
PETER DUTTON:
‘Morning Nat.
NATALIE BARR:
So, the boat arrived undetected, on our shores with no warning. You say people smugglers are testing our Government’s strength this morning. What evidence do you have to back that up?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, this arrival comes, as you know, off the back of an arrival in November and a boat that is carrying 40 people is not an insignificant boat. As the locals are saying, how can this boat make land and not be detected?
The first the Prime Minister knew of it was when he was asked the question by the media a few days ago. So, I think the fact that they’ve cut about $600 million out of Border Force, they’ve reduced the amount of surveillance flights, that makes it easier for these boats to get through, and I just don’t think the Prime Minister is telling the truth when he says that there’s ‘nothing to see here’.
NATALIE BARR:
Well, on the other side, you’re the one under fire this morning because Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram, a respected public servant, has actually asked political leaders not to politicise this issue. Do you accept that is exactly what you’re doing?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, nobody’s politicising the issue. I think we’re pointing out the fact that the Government is making significant errors here, and the people smugglers will always test a weak Prime Minister. A Government…
NATALIE BARR:
Don’t you think that’s politicising it? Going against the Government?
PETER DUTTON:
I think it’s pointing out the fact that when Labor was last in power, when Anthony Albanese was the Deputy Prime Minister, it was a disaster. Labor lost control of the borders and Mr Albanese himself has been arguing against Operation Sovereign Borders for years and years and years. They’ve closed down one of the important legs of Operation Sovereign Borders, which is the temporary protection visas.
People smugglers are really smart, they are organised criminals. They market the words of the Prime Minister when they think that they’re weak or he’s not really specific about the measures in place, and they text that out. They put that out on their social media feeds, and people then pay money, and we don’t want to get back into the disaster that we had when Labor was last in Government.
NATALIE BARR:
But Labor says when you were in power, they didn’t talk about it, they didn’t politicise it, but they didn’t talk about it openly. So, the people smugglers didn’t know how many boats were arriving.
PETER DUTTON:
Again, I just don’t think the Prime Minister is telling the truth when he says that. The Prime Minister was critical – he was actually speaking against Bill Shorten, who was in favour of a tougher Operation Sovereign Borders – and Mr Albanese for years and years has been the Leader of the left of the Labor Party. It’s part of the reason why 149 criminals were released from detention – and that’s also another message. The people smugglers are out there saying, ‘look at what the Albanese Government’s done’. They’ve released 149 hardcore criminals, including seven murderers, people who’ve committed rape and all sorts of other terrible crimes. They’re in immigration detention, they’ve been released into the community, so even if you commit a crime in Australia, you’ll still get a permanent outcome and go into society.
These are all messages that are heard by the people smugglers. Nothing to do with us as an Opposition, that’s just the actions of the Government.
NATALIE BARR:
When you were Home Affairs Minister and Border Protection Minister and Immigration Minister, isn’t it true that around 100,000 asylum seekers arrived by air, which is the way most asylum seekers arrived? They’re very hard to stop, aren’t they?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, when you’ve got a loss of control of the borders – which is what happened when Labor was last in Government – you end up with people tragically drowning at sea, you end up with kids in detention. We got all of the kids out of detention, we got women out of detention, in fact, we closed down detention centres that Labor had opened. I just don’t want to see a return to the dysfunction and to the loss of life and the loss of control of our borders.
We have to have an orderly migration program, and the Prime Minister, by taking money out of surveillance, you end up with the outcomes that we’ve seen in November and again now in the last few days.
NATALIE BARR:
Okay. Moving on to another issue. The Deputy Leader of the Nationals Party has admitted to drinking before a Senate hearing. Perin Davey says she only had two glasses of wine before speaking in the committee hearing, but maintains she was not drunk despite stumbling her words and slurring. Take a listen.
[excerpt]
PERIN DAVEY:
I’m really… Thank you for your evidence tonight and I thank you because I – having sit in this place now for nearly five years – I have seen a dramatic change from when once the Arts would come in and it would be a ‘this is what we’re saying’, you come prepared, you know exactly the questions I’m going to ask about the regions and the regions are now a topic of conversation.
[end excerpt]
NATALIE BARR:
So, this comes just over a week since Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, of course, was filmed lying on a Canberra street using profanities while on the phone. Of course, that was at 10 o’clock at night, I know. This was in a Senate hearing. Should there be a booze ban at Parliament?
PETER DUTTON:
I think people have got to take responsibility for their own actions. The public holds those of us in public life to a higher standard, and that’s appropriately so.
I know Perin well, she’s a very decent person. She has a real burning desire to help people, particularly in regional areas. She’s made a mistake in this instance, she’s owned up to it and her other colleagues should learn from it as well. People can have a drink in moderation, you can catch up with friends, you can attend social functions. That happens in workplaces and across society every day, but you need to take responsibility – particularly if you’re in the public eye – and I think a lot of people will learn a lesson from it.
NATALIE BARR:
There’s also booze bans and alcohol and drug testing in many workplaces across the country, though. Would you support that in Parliament House?
PETER DUTTON:
No. Look, I think the Prime Minister got this right last week, and that is that there is a change of behaviour that’s required from some individuals. But, when you get a workplace that swells when Parliament sits to a couple of thousand people who come from all over the country, in the Senate, in the House of Representatives and staff, etc., you are going to have instances from time to time. Now, that doesn’t excuse it, but it says that 99 per cent of people are doing the right thing, and you need to be extra careful. I think that’s the lesson that you can take out of it.
NATALIE BARR:
Mr Dutton, thank you for your time this morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you Nat. See you soon.
[ends]