Key Points
- A boat carrying refugees arrived in Broome, in the far north of Western Australia on Friday.
- ‘People who attempt to arrive here by boat will not settle here,’ Albanese has said.
- He is accusing Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of politicising the boat arrival.
A war of words has broken out between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton over Australia’s border security following carrying refugees in remote Western Australia.
The group, reportedly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, were found on Friday near a remote Indigenous community close to the former West Australian church mission of Beagle Bay.
Following Dutton’s comments that the government did not support Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB), Albanese said the remarks were hindering security efforts.
“Peter Dutton is someone who is showing, with his overblown rhetoric and with his overreach on this issue, that he’s not interested in outcomes that are in the Australian national interest,” the prime minister told reporters in Nowra on Sunday.
“Peter Dutton needs to think very carefully about the role that he is playing, and I think it’s there for all to see whether he’s interested in the national interest, or interested in just playing politics.”
Albanese confirmed he had spoken with OSB commander Rear Admiral Brett Sonter on Sunday, following reports three groups of boat arrivals had been found.
The commander previously said alternative narratives had the potential to be exploited by people smugglers.
But Dutton doubled down on his criticism of border security, saying the government needed to be more open.
“We don’t know whether it’s one or two boats that have arrived. The prime minister himself was not aware,” he told reporters.
“So how can two boats get to the Australian mainland without being detected if the same settings were in place that we had under the coalition in Operation Sovereign Borders?
“That’s exactly what we’re seeing, it’s what the people smugglers are seeing and it’s now what the Australian people are seeing: a government that is starting to lose control again of our borders.”
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said Dutton’s criticism “runs directly counter to Australia’s national security”.
Clare O’Neil said the federal government’s commitment to Operation Sovereign Borders was “absolute”. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins
“This conduct undermines Operation Sovereign Borders and gives people smugglers the disinformation they need to get people on boats,” she said.
“Peter Dutton is trying to weaken our borders for his own political gain. He will say or do anything to wreck, and create division if it is to his political advantage.”
O’Neil said the federal government’s commitment to OSB was “absolute”.
“Every person who has attempted to reach Australia by boat since I have been Minister is back in their home country, or in Nauru, having wasted thousands of dollars and having risked their lives,” she said.
O’Neil said OSB was only possible “thanks to the hard work and bravery of the men and women of the Australian Border Force”.
“Protecting our borders is difficult and dangerous and on behalf of all Australians, I thank them.”
In statistics shared with SBS News on Sunday, an Australian Border Force spokesperson said that Australian authorities had returned 1,121 people from 47 people smuggling ventures to their country of origin or departure since the commencement of the OSB in 2013.
“A further 987 have been transferred to a regional processing country.
“Since May 2022, Sovereign Borders has intercepted and successfully resolved 11 maritime people smuggling ventures, (with) 250 people on board nine of these ventures safely returned to their country of origin or their country of departure.”
The spokesperson said that an additional 23 people from two ventures were transferred to Nauru, a regional processing country.
Speculation suggests the Beagle Bay arrivals will be held offshore, with ABC reporting they had been taken to Nauru on a plane that left Broome late on Saturday.
West Australian Premier Roger Cook said he wasn’t concerned about the weak-on-borders rhetoric but it underlined the need to ensure the coast, fisheries, defence facilities and infrastructure were protected.
“It does emphasise just how exposed our vast northwest coast is,” he told reporters.
On Saturday, Admiral Sonter said the mission of the military-led border operation remained the same as it was when established in 2013.
“Protect Australia’s borders, combat people smuggling in our region and, importantly, prevent people from risking their lives at sea.
“Any alternate narrative will be exploited by criminal people smugglers to deceive potential irregular immigrants and convince them to risk their lives and travel to Australia by boat.”
Questioned by journalists in Melbourne on Saturday, Dutton said his experience as home affairs minister told him there was “no question about the fact Operation Sovereign Borders is not supported by the … government.
“I know exactly how these people smugglers work,” he said.
“They will react to a weak prime minister and to a weak minister. If they see vulnerabilities, they will exploit them, and that’s exactly what has happened here.”
Albanese said he had spoken with O’Neil and Admiral Sonter.
“Our position on Operation Sovereign Borders is very clear and people who attempt to arrive here by boat will not settle here,” he told reporters in Newcastle on Saturday.
“We do not seek to politicise national security issues and it is unfortunate when any politician seeks to do so.”
Push to respond to Dutton’s assertion he had not been tough enough on the issue, the prime minister said: “That says more about him than anything else.”
A High Court decision in January to release 149 immigration detainees who had no prospect of being deported had already put Labor under pressure, with the opposition slamming the government’s handling of the case.
More than two dozen have been re-arrested and charged since being freed, including for visa breaches.
Of the seven people accused of Commonwealth offences, three are in custody and four are on bail.
