November 24, 2023
OLIVER PETERSON: James Paterson is the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs. Senator, good afternoon.
JAMES PATERSON: Good to be with you Oly.
PETERSON: 12 people arrived by boat from Indonesia on to mainland Australia yesterday. How much detail are you expecting from the Government?
PATERSON: Well, much more than they've provided so far, which is absolutely nothing at all. The fact that we'd know about this at all is only thanks to journalists who investigated this and citizens who tipped them off. The government's provided no transparency at all. But what it appears to be is the first time in a decade that an illegal maritime arrival has arrived on Australian shores, made it all the way to the Australian mainland without being detected and dropped off people onshore. That's a very serious breach of our borders and one that the government must front up and be candid about.
PETERSON: In government, though, the LNP didn't discuss border, that is. So, is the Albanese Government justified in not saying anything, Senator?
PATERSON: Well, this is different because this is an arrival on the Australian mainland. We were very successful at stopping the boats and we didn't have these sorts of arrivals on the Australian mainland and the fact that it started again is deeply worrying. But this is exactly what they were warned would happen given they watered down our strong border protection policy. I mean, they took a commitment to the election to abolish temporary protection visas. The Minister for Home Affairs has been trashing offshore processing. So really the only thing that's been left is boat turnarounds. But if you don't spot them, you can't turn them around. And that's what appears to have happened here.
PETERSON: Well the Wyndham East Kimberley Shire president David Menzel wasn't taken by surprise, reporting that illegal fishing vessels had been detected in the area in recent months. So, Senator, how does this boat go undetected? How does it make it all the way to the mainland of the Truscott area? It sounds as if our border security is lapsing.
PATERSON: It is, unfortunately. And it's because of deliberate policy choices that this government has made. They have cut $600 million from the border protection budget over the next four years. They've also failed to deliver the maritime surveillance flights that they are supposed to deliver. Our Australian Border Force officials have been relying more than ever before on the Navy to plug the gaps in their own surveillance program. And so unfortunately, it isn't surprising that people are slipping through because unfortunately I think the government's heart hasn't been in this and it's pretty worrying for Australians that someone can successfully approach our shores from such distance away and make it all the way without being detected. But that's what we've seen happen.
PETERSON: Does this send a green light to the people smugglers? Especially as well in light of what the High Court said a couple of weeks ago that lead to the release of more than 100 people from indefinite immigration detention?
PATERSON: I am very worried that that is how they will interpret this. That's not what we want to see, but I fear that that is what will happen, and it is following a real pattern, which is Coalition governments putting in tough border protection policies that stop the boats, Labor governments, water down and weaken those policies. The boats start again, and human misery follows. We know last time they were in office more than 50,000 illegal arrivals came on more than 800 boats and more than 1200 people died at sea. The last thing any of us should want is to see that trade, despicable trade, start again. But it is a great risk of doing so because the signals that the Prime Minister and the government are sending on this are very, very weak.
PETERSON: So, you need to hear from the Prime Minister here. We need some leadership when it comes to border protection. Silence isn't going to be the answer. In this scenario, Senator Paterson.
PATERSON: That's my expectation. I really think the Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs should front the media, should hold a press conference, should explain what they knew, when they knew it, what they've done about it and frankly, the attitude we've seen from the Prime Minister on most national security issues recently is that he doesn't have to explain himself. He doesn't have to answer questions. We saw it with his purported meeting with Xi Jinping in San Francisco at APEC. We've seen it on this. We've seen it on the High Court decision as well, where frankly, they've thumbed their nose at accountability and transparency and had to be forced into taking action.
PETERSON: Why do you think that's his approach towards national security?
PATERSON: That's a really hard question to answer. My only guess is that his heart isn't in it. He's just not that interested in it. At his heart of hearts, he's a tribal warrior for the Labor Party he is more interested in class warfare than in protecting Australians. National security and foreign policy has never been of interest to him. But he has said that the reason why he has to do all this international travel is so that he can take those opportunities to advocate for Australia's interests. I think he's just been exposed for really, taking that travel for the fancy plane and the selfies rather than actually advocating for Australia because it doesn't appear he raised these issues with Xi Jinping when he met him. So you really can't count on the Prime Minister when it comes to national security and that’s a very sad thing.
PETERSON: Senator, thanks for your time.
PATERSON: Thanks Oly.
ENDS
