Subjects: Phelps Bill; foreign political donations; facial recognition software.
EO&E...........................................................................................................................................
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you very much for being here today and welcome to Kallangur in my electorate of Dickson. Obviously there is a very important issue for Labor to contemplate before Parliament resumes next week.
Now people are referring to this as the Phelps Bill, but this will be 'Shorten's Law' if it passes the Parliament. As we know people smugglers haven't gone away, we are dealing with attempts to put people on to vessels this very day. We have intelligence which indicates obviously that people smugglers have not gone away. We're seeing movements out of Sri Lanka, out of Vietnam, etc. So let's be very realistic about what Mr Shorten is proposing here in supporting the Phelps Bill, which will become 'Shorten's Law' if the Labor Party support it with the independents in the Lower House.
You will get children, women and men, of course, back on boats. You will end up with people drowning at sea again. You'll end up with kids back in detention. You'll end up with a multi-billion dollar bill and Mr Shorten is taking this very reckless and dangerous action knowing all of that in advance.
Now at least Kevin Rudd waited until after the election in 2007 before he undid John Howard's tough border protection policies. We've been able to get the kids out of detention. We've closed 19 detention centres. We've done all of that. At the same time we haven't restarted boats. There's no sense getting kids out of detention, as the Prime Minister rightly said, if you've got a boatload of kids turning up the next week because they go to Nauru and they stay there until they can be returned back home. So you're returned back to square one.
It's clear that Mr Shorten is playing politics with this very important issue at the moment and he needs to stop because there's no sense concentrating on what Kerryn Phelps and the Independents will do. Three or four Independents sitting supporting this bill, mean that the bill doesn't pass if the Labor Party is sitting with us; but at the moment the Labor Party, Mr Shorten, has made an announcement that his policy is to support the Phelps Bill which will make it 'Shorten's Law' and it will result in the boats restarting. Mr Shorten needs to think very carefully about this because the advice to the Government is very clear in relation to the people smuggling threat. It's still there, it's not going away. People are drowning on the Mediterranean. People are seeking to cross the channel between France and the United Kingdom and we've seen movements right across our region into Malaysia and elsewhere.
Mr Shorten needs to rethink what he's doing and he needs to explain why it is he would support a policy which would result in people from Manus and Nauru coming to our country and the people smugglers seeing that as a green light. He's had fair warning now. The advice is clear in relation to the outcomes of Mr Shorten's actions and he needs to rethink his position and he needs to overturn his support of this bill.
Happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PETER DUTTON:
Well the advice to us is very clear in relation to softening Operation Sovereign Borders. We put in place Operation Sovereign Borders. The OSB Labor version is 'Open Soft Borders.' All of the agencies – the 16 agencies – work very closely together. They provide the Government with advice. The advice from my own Department is clear in relation to pulling out one pillar of Operation Sovereign Borders or another. Already the Labor Party has said that they are not going to have Temporary Protection Visas, that they'll reintroduce Permanent protection visas – and again that means if you make it to Australian mainland then you're here on a pathway to citizenship.
So Mr Shorten has to rethink his position here. The advice is clear. I see some suburban lawyer has provided advice, an activist in this space, a Labor Party member. Well, I wouldn't take that advice Mr Shorten. I'd take the advice of the experts over the Labor lawyer activist. It's clear, as it was for Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard, that boats will restart if Labor is elected at the next election and Mr 'Shorten's Law' that would allow people to come from Manus and Nauru would be a green light for people smugglers.
QUESTION:
Can you tell me about the Chinese political donor [inaudible] citizenship rejected?
PETER DUTTON:
I don't have any comment to make in relation to those individual matters. The Government obviously has been very strong in stopping overseas donations. We want to make sure that there is no political interference. Obviously the agencies, including ASIO, will act in relation to particular matters or individual cases where they believe there's sufficient evidence to do so, but I don't have any comment to make in relation to that individual case.
QUESTION:
How far is the Government willing to go with facial recognition software?
PETER DUTTON:
Well obviously there's a big debate about the use of passports for example, given the millions of movements that we have across our borders. We've had a successful trial of facial recognition software at the Canberra Airport and we'll wait to see further results from that, but the ability for somebody to come off a plane, to walk seamlessly through the airport, about to pick up their luggage and then out to, you know, the kerbside is a very appealing one. People don't like being stuck in lines. They don't like waiting long times in queues and if we can use technology in a sensible way then we'll look at ways in which we can do that.
QUESTION:
Scott Bucholz has apologised for his inappropriate actions against a female ADF Officer. Do you think he should be stood down?
PETER DUTTON:
I'm not aware of the substance of the claims, but Scott Buchholz has obviously done the right thing in issuing an apology. He's done it unreservedly and that's a matter for him.
QUESTION:
Is the apology good enough though?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, I just don't know the circumstances of the case, but he's issued an apology. I think that's appropriate it seems in the circumstances and he's issued it without reservation and I think that's a positive thing.
QUESTION:
Scott Bucholz voted for you in the leadership spill. Do you think the Turnbull supporters were behind the leak?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, I just don't have comment in relation to those matters.
QUESTION:
When did Bill Shorten receive a security briefing?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look, I think again I made this point in Parliament, but Mr Shorten hadn't had a briefing for a long period of time. He hadn't received the information in relation to the way in which Operation Sovereign Borders works, and no doubt, he regrets that.
I think Mr Shorten should get as much information as he needs – not from activists and Labor Party members that are providing advice – but from the experts and the expert advice to me is that we have, in Operation Sovereign Borders, the right settings, the right pillars to stop people in terms of Temporary Protection Visas, turning back boats where it's safe to do so, and offshore detention; and Labor's proposal is to dismantle offshore detention, essentially give the ability for two doctors, as it's been pointed out, doctors including Dr Brown, Bob Brown, and Dr Richard Di Natale, potentially, can provide the advice.
Really, there is ultimately under Labor's proposal, under 'Shorten Law' there would be no ability for the Minister in the end to have a final say. Labor taking away that sovereign right I think it should be condemned and I think people properly understand that this is a bad call, a bad captain's call by Bill Shorten and it's a Phelps Bill, but it's going to be 'Shorten's Law' if he votes on it in the Lower House.
All the concentration on the Independents, put all that to one side; what is relevant here is what Mr Shorten will do and if Mr Shorten is going to vote for this bill, it becomes 'Shorten's Law.' He owns it and if boats arrive after that point, then Mr Shorten can stick his hand up, as Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd had to do, to say: I'm sorry. We made mistakes. People have drowned at sea again. Kids are back in detention and that would be on Mr Shorten's shoulders.
Let's be very clear about it; he knows in advance the consequences of his actions and therefore he's culpable and responsible for what flows from his own decision. He needs to reverse his decision. He needs to step down from it and he needs to announce today the Labor Party have yet again got border protection wrong and that he's going to change his position because at the moment he's on a path to restarting boats and that would be a disaster for the people involved and it would be a disaster for our country as well.
QUESTION:
Bill Shorten says he hasn't had a security briefing on this.
PETER DUTTON:
Well I think it's an outrage if he hasn't because the Labor Party has had briefings. Now, he's the alternative prime minster in this country and if he's refused to have security briefings, then he needs to explain why. How can he formulate policy in such an important area of national security and border protection policy without advice from the experts?
It seems to me that Mr Shorten has come up with, as Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd did, a stitched-up solution which is more about the politics, trying to deal with the internal difficulties within the Labor Party on the left on this issue, than he's concerned about proper border protection policy – and 'Open Soft Borders,' the OSB version under the Labor Party is a disaster because people will drown at sea again, and Mr Shorten if he needs the advice, should seek it. It's available to him. If he hasn't sought it, then he should do so.
Now, it's clear that Mr Neumann is not up to the task because we've now had many, many months since the Home Affairs portfolio has been stood up and yet he still refuses to nominate Mr Neumann as the Shadow Home Affairs Minister. Now, if Mr Neumann is not up to the task, which clearly by his own performances he is obviously not, then Mr Shorten should put in place somebody that has the ability to put together a proper policy because at the moment Mr Shorten is going to turn the Phelps Bill into 'Shorten Law' and it will be on his shoulders when boats start arriving again, when people drown at sea and when kids are back in detention.
QUESTION:
So can you clarify, are you saying that he has…
PETER DUTTON:
My understanding is that he did have security briefings and that he, Mr Marles, Mr Dreyfus and Ms Wong, as I recall at the time were all present. Now, if Mr Shorten is saying he couldn't make the meeting, then he should explain why.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PETER DUTTON:
Well look either way I think it's a pathetic indictment on Bill Shorten. My advice was that his office had requested the meeting and he was there. Now, if he couldn't be bothered to turn up to the meeting, this is like Julia Gillard sending in the bodyguard to NSC. I mean what is wrong with the Labor Party that they can't take the proper advice? We've been living the clean-up mess for a couple of years now. We've done it successfully. We haven't had kids drown at sea on my watch. I've been very cautious about getting kids out of detention in a way that won't restart boats and the Prime Minister has shown the leadership that this required from a leader in our country to deal with the threat.
The threat is still there. People smugglers have not gone away. Will people get onto boats tomorrow in Indonesia or Sri Lanka if they think they can get there? Of course they will and why Mr Shorten would take this reckless decision and if he's saying it's not even on advice, well, that makes it even worse.
QUESTION:
How many people on Nauru are murderers and rapists? If they are, why aren't they in jail?
PETER DUTTON:
Well if they've been accused of an allegation out of Iran for example, but they're now in Nauru or they're on PNG, then that's an issue for those governments. They don't extradite people in that scenario. If they stand accused of offences on Nauru or on Manus, then that's an issue for obviously the relevant authorities in those jurisdictions. These are sovereign states and they make decisions in relation to it.
But if you're saying you've got somebody with a serious allegation of sexual abuse against women levelled against them, and under Labor's policy it is okay for that person to come here, I think that's exactly the wrong thing to do and Mr Shorten can explain why he thinks it's the right thing to do, because under his policy, what would become 'Shorten's Law,' those people would be eligible to come to Australia and I don't think that's supported by the Australian people.
QUESTION:
Which agencies were involved in these security briefings?
PETER DUTTON:
I'm not going provide a running commentary on what Mr Shorten may or may not have done, what he may have been present for. As I say, my advice at the time was that the request had been granted. It had been provided from Mr Shorten's office and if he couldn't be bothered to turn up to a briefing on national security, then I don't think he's fit to be prime minister of this country.
Thanks very much. Thank you.
[ends]
