April 8, 2024
TOM ELLIOTT: Something caught my eye this morning. Fifteen Chinese nationals have turned up on a remote part of WA. Now, they've presumably got there via people smugglers from Indonesia. And I find this strange because, you know, hundreds of thousands of Chinese people fly here all the time, I mean, they come here as tourists, they come here as students. So why would some Chinese nationals need to come here as boat people? Our next guest is a Victorian Liberal Senator. He's the Shadow Home Affairs spokesperson. James Paterson, good morning.
JAMES PATERSON: Good morning, Tom.
ELLIOTT: What am I missing here? I mean, it seems like Chinese people, notwithstanding the fact that China is or was a communist country, can fly here for a holiday or to study or to do whatever. Why would some of them be coming as boat people?
PATERSON: Well it's a fair question, Tom, and one I’d be delighted to help you by answering, but the government has so far refused to provide any briefings to the Opposition on Operation Sovereign Borders matters, even though when they were in Opposition a few years ago we routinely provided them with briefings on those matters, but they’ve refused my requests. So all we can do is rely on what's in the media reports. It is possible that these are people who are genuinely fearing persecution at home in China and are seeking asylum. It's also possible, like some other recent migrants from other countries, that they're primarily economically motivated and looking for work here, but it's not clear which category they fit in.
ELLIOTT: Because it's just, I mean, let’s say they’re Uyghurs, which are a Muslim minority in China who are persecuted, maybe that you could understand. But if they're just people seeking a better life, wouldn't it be just cheaper and easier to jump on a plane? I mean I had a quick look, and you can get flights from China for like a thousand bucks, and I think that's a lot less than what a people smuggler will charge.
PATERSON: That's right, and it is often the case that people who do want to seek asylum first make a tourist visa application, come here, and then when they're onshore they then make a claim for protection under our asylum seeker visas. In this instance they haven't done that, and we don't know why they haven't done that. The last time this happened was in 2012, a boat sailed into Darwin Harbor, they were from a persecuted religious minority - the Falun Gong - and they were seeking a home actually ultimately in New Zealand. So, it is possible that these people now that are on Nauru will be processed and found to have valid claims, and then they can be offered a third country resettlement option, but the government is just not providing any information at all.
ELLIOTT: Right. So you, like me, you only know what's been written in the newspaper?
PATERSON: That's right.
ELLIOTT: Oh, that's extraordinary. Well look, we’ll pursue the government on this. Thank you very much. James Paterson, the Victorian Liberal Senator.
ENDS
