Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the government’s handling of more than 40 asylum seekers found in remote Western Australia on Friday, insisting that Operation Sovereign Borders is being implemented.
The initial group of about 30 asylum seekers, believed to be Pakistani nationals, was discovered by locals around the Beagle Bay and the second group, found about an hour later, was Bangladeshi and Indian.
The 13 men were given food and some basic medical care, before police were alerted.
Albanese flagged on Sunday that the Australian Border Force would have more to say about the interception of the men later in the day as he pushed back against opposition criticism of the men’s arrival on Australian shores.
“Operation Sovereign Borders is being implemented. We’ll have more to say on that shortly. But I do note the comments of the commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, who has made very strong comments about the need for … politicians to not politicise national security,” he said.
“Peter Dutton is someone who is showing, with his overblown rhetoric and with his overreach on this issue, showing that he’s not interested in outcomes or in the Australian national interest. As usual, he’s just interested in politics.”
“We won’t comment on those operational matters. You’ll see a response shortly from the Operation Sovereign Borders command about what has occurred there over the last 24 hours.
“But we’re very confident that Operation Sovereign Borders remains in place. We are implementing the policies that we said we would before the election, and this is just the latest demonstration of it.”
Royal Australian Navy Rear Admiral Brett Sonter, who commands the joint taskforce in charge of Operation Sovereign Borders, on Friday evening pushed back against claims by Dutton that Labor was losing control of the nation’s borders.
“The mission of Operation Sovereign Borders remains the same today as it was when it was established in 2013: protect Australia’s borders, combat people smuggling in our region, and importantly, prevent people from risking their lives at sea,” Sonter said in a statement.
Opposition Defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said on Sunday that people smugglers had worked out that the government was weak on national security.
“It’s weak on border security and it’s clear on Friday, the prime minister wasn’t even across his brief. He says he was in his car but we all know he doesn’t drive his own … vehicle and he would have access to his phone,” Hastie told Sky News.
“And I’m pretty confident that his ministers, if they’re on top of their brief – we know Andrew Giles is not, as the minister of immigration – would have briefed him.”
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2024-02-18 01:13:34Z
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