February 21, 2024
RAY HADLEY: Senator James Paterson, the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs. Good morning. Sorry I subjected you to that.
JAMES PATERSON: You're quite alright Ray. These are serious times. Being prime minister is a serious job. He should front up to some serious questions, but he's running away. And I think we all know why.
HADLEY: Look. One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. There's a story on the front page of the Oz today by Geoff Chambers, Page Taylor and Jess Malcolm. Now he's ripped- if you'll pardon the expression, your leader, a new one, about claims that they are not spending as much, the government that is, on what was happening in relation to our borders. Now, you can confirm, I hope, what they've written today. ABF figures show that there's been a 20.7% decrease in aerial flying hours and a 12.2% fall in maritime patrol days, for 2022-2023 compared with the aerial maritime surveillance hours logged in 2021. Is that factual?
PATERSON: It's exactly right Ray. And there's no way that the government can run away from it. It's happened on their watch and we're seeing the fruit of that. Not only have we had a dozen boats since the election, but two of them have made it all the way to the Australian mainland. And that used to be a completely unheard of event, an incredibly rare event. But under this Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs, who have neglected Border Force and the maritime surveillance operations, boats are getting through for the first time in many years.
HADLEY: So by this line of, you know, Peter Dutton is telling lies and, you know, and it's been swallowed hook, line and sinker by a range of media outlets. Unless you read The Australian, of course. You know, the population would think, oh, well, yes, Peter Dutton would say that because he's in opposition, he wants to destroy their credibility. But, you know, they're doing better than the previous government did, when in fact they are not.
PATERSON: There's just no argument Ray when it comes to the maritime surveillance issue or the sea patrol days or indeed the budget figures. I mean, I know most Australians are probably not going to dig out the budget figures. But if you look at Jim Chalmers budget in May last year, it showed $600 million reduction in Border Force funding over the next four years. And if you look at the February update, which the government prefers, it shows a $400 million reduction in Border Force funding over the next three years. So the government has to explain why they think it is a good idea, as they have said they will in their own budget, to cut funding for border protection at a time when we've had a dozen boats, 300 people, and two make it to the mainland.
HADLEY: Now I get questions all the time from our listeners about what happens next for these people on Nauru. Now, I've explained this morning that, the question was asked, can they come back under any circumstances? Yes, they can. Medical assistance. If they show they can't get assistance there, well obviously, that'll be the case. They can feign mental health. The applicants will be given advice to do exactly that. Then they land here, the lawyers will injunct and prohibit their return. And of course, the lawyers are the same people that were fulfilling the role previously fulfilled by Andrew Giles, Immigration Minister, when he was doing this for MV Tampa and others. The government then tried to convince them to return voluntarily, but they won’t be able to be forced to return to Pakistan, Bangladesh or wherever they come from. So, they don't have any solutions. And all they have to do, these people, I'm sure they're being well versed. They have access to phones with immigration lawyers back in Australia saying, look, you've got PTSD, you've got this, you've got that, you need to be repatriated back to Australia. Once they get here, they never leave.
PATERSON: That's right Ray, and you might remember a few years ago when that medevac bill passed the parliament against the then Morrison government's wishes, and we warned at the time what the consequence of that be it passed with Labor's support. It passed with Anthony Albanese's support. Some of the people who came to Australia as a result of a temporary medical issue to receive medical treatment have never left this country, years later, are still here and haven't been able to be deported because they're taking advantage of all the legal opportunities that are provided to them. And I'm deeply worried now that the boats do seem to be starting again, do seem to be coming back. That we will very soon fill Nauru again. And the government has admitted today they've got no plan B if Nauru gets full for any other reason, we can no longer use Nauru, Christmas Island is not ready to be up and running. The PNG facility is closed, they have no backup plan and that means the Australian mainland.
HADLEY: To illustrate your point, one of the 149 people incarcerated then released under orders of the High Court. When they didn't need to release everyone. There was only one application. That person was stripped of his visa. He said originally, he was granted a visa on the basis he couldn't go back to his homeland for fear of, you know, all sorts of things happening to him. He went back there for a kidney transplant. I mean, can you believe it?
PATERSON: I can believe it, because there are activist lawyers who are very well funded, who are looking for cases all the time. I mean, it was pro bono legal representation that took NZYQ all the way to the High Court, an admitted child sex offender, someone who raped a child, and he is the successful case that resulted in this NZYQ judgement and the release of 149 other people. And we know among them are seven murderers, 37 sex offenders, 72 other violent offenders, 16 people accused of very serious family and domestic violence, drug traffickers. There's even a group of people of five who were described as having committed crimes of international concern, which I asked the federal police about last week, and they couldn't tell me what a crime of international concern was. But it doesn't sound very good.
HADLEY: No it doesn't. All right, thanks for your time, appreciate it. Senator James Paterson, all the best thank you.
ENDS
