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Anthony Albanese has accused Peter Dutton of acting as a cheer squad for people smugglers by over-egging the seriousness of the arrival on the Australian mainland last week of a boat carrying 39 men.
Amid a full-blown political row over who was tougher on borders, Mr Dutton a former home affairs minister, accused the government of being “weak” and presiding over a “catastrophic failure” following the arrival of the boat, the first since November last year.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Alex Ellinghausen
In its annual report for 2022-23, Australia Border Force said it had reduced “maritime patrol days” by 6 per cent and aerial patrols by 14 per cent due to personnel shortages, issues with vessel maintenance and difficulties in operating in remote offshore areas.
During recent Senate estimates hearings, the ABF said it was compensating for the problems and believed surveillance to be adequate.
“The government has all sorts of problems at the moment. It’s clear they don’t have the same surveillance in place that we had when we were in government,” Mr Dutton said.
“It’s inconceivable a boat of this size, carrying 40-plus people, could make it to the mainland without there being any detection.”
Mr Albanese reacted angrily, rejecting the argument that the ABF was under-resourced and saying the same systems were in place now as they were under the Coalition.
All those who arrived last week were already in Nauru and they, like anyone else who comes by boat, would never be settled in Australia.
“We won’t allow people to stay here who arrive by boat,” he said.
Mr Albanese said Mr Dutton, by seeking to weaponise the issue politically, was sending a message to people smugglers that the current government was a soft touch.
“The opposition are just full of nonsense, and they should stop being a cheer squad for people, encouraging people smuggling,” he said.
He pointed to comments on the weekend by Operation Sovereign Borders commander Rear Admiral Brett Sonter that comments such as those from the opposition were unhelpful.
“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,” Rear Admiral Sonter said in a statement.
“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.”
Asylum seekers have been Labor’s political bete noir over the past two decades and there is a particular sensitivity at the moment, given it has just endured a week being grilled on the release from detention last year of 149 non-residents of dubious character.
They were released following a High Court ruling, but the government has yet to initiate an application for any preventative detention orders to put the worst of them back behind bars.
Greens Senator Nick McKim said “media and political panic about the arrival of people seeking asylum is disgraceful and undermines community harmony”.
“Sensationalist reporting of this issue and mindless repetition of Peter Dutton’s talking points does the entire country a great disservice.”
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2024-02-19 05:58:00Z
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