October 30, 2023
the last week of senate estimates painted a grim picture: Labor's softening on border protection is having real-world impact.
We have seen this play out before.
Labor gets into office and weakens the Coalition's strong border protection policies, the boats start again, and human misery results. A re-elected Coalition government must then pick up the pieces.
The Australian Border Force confirmed in senate estimates last week that passengers from an intercepted vessel were sent to the regional processing centre on Nauru for the first time in nine years. This was the ninth people smuggling venture to attempt to arrive illegally in Australia since May 2022.
The commissioner of the Australian Border Force also admitted the Australian Defence Force is being forced to plug the gaps in maritime patrols and surveillance because our Border Force is reliant on an ageing fleet and struggling to recruit staff. Worse, there is no immediate plan to fix the situation.
This comes at the same time as a planned $600mcut to border security in Labor's most recent budget, which the Australian Border Force commissioner confirmed in senate estimates in May 2023 would leave his frontline forces "stretched".
Undermining Australia's border protection regime would be concerning at the best of times, but in the current strategic environment it is downright reckless.
The chief of the Defence Force has given evidence that the Defence Force is being called on to contribute additional maritime and aerial assets to plug the gaps left by the ABF under Operation Sovereign Borders.
At the same time, the Defence Strategic Review tells us the 10-year warning time for conflict in our region has evaporated, and states "major power competition in our region has the potential to threaten our interests, including the potential for conflict".
This does not suggest that conflict is imminent or inevitable, but we ignore these developments at our peril.
This means we absolutely cannot afford to be dependent on Defence assets - including our warships - for managing civil maritime issues for which there is a dedicated Australian Border Force. This kind of structural reliance serves to distract our Defence Force from its primary mission: to defend Australia and its national interests. Labor's weakening of our border protection architecture goes beyond budget neglect.
In February this year, the Albanese Labor government confirmed it would end the use of temporary protection visas, which- along with boat turn-backs and regional processing - is a foundational pillar of Operation Sovereign Borders.
This sent a clear signal to people smugglers that Labor's resolve on border security has weakened - a signal that the predatory criminals would seek to exploit to peddle illegal ventures to vulnerable people.
It should come as no surprise then that under Labor we have just seen passengers from an intercepted vessel arrive on Nauru for the first time in almost a decade. This is the logical consequence of the Albanese government's capitulation on border security, driven by internal pressure by Labor MPs who want to soften the Coalition's hard line border policies.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has previously trashed offshore processing as a "festering sore" following the Albanese government's decision to mothball the off shore processing centre on Nauru and secretly shift people off Christmas Island. It is deeply ironic that the numbers in the Nauru centre are going up under her watch.
I fear we are on the path towards a tragic sequel to one of the most horrifying episodes in Australia's history. Between2008 and 2013 more than 50,000 people arrived in Australia illegally on more than 820 boats, and tragically at least 1200 died at sea.
As in the past, Labor's failures on border security are having real consequences for our national security. Tragically, it may once again result in suffering on our waters.
