Subjects: New York attack; Australia's border security and immigration policy; citizenship; closure of Manus RPC.
E&EO…………………………………………………………………………………………..
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
We're joined now by the Minister responsible for our own border security and immigration, Peter Dutton. Good morning to you.
PETER DUTTON:
Good morning Deb.
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
A shocking attack in New York. The US President is saying that all countries need to toughen up on border protection, will Australia?
PETER DUTTON:
Well it's a shocking and pointless attack. These are innocent people and really what does this achieve?
We're very lucky in our country to have great border protection agencies. Our intelligence and law enforcement agencies are doing more than ever, working around the clock to keep us safe. They've foiled 14 attempts over recent years and 72 people have been charged with terrorist-related offences over the last couple of years, but like all Western democracies, we face the ongoing scourge of terrorism. It'll be with us for a long period of time and we need to defeat it as best we can.
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
So any review of the system as we have it?
PETER DUTTON:
No. We've obviously got strong border protection systems in place. We screen very heavily people before they're issued visas, even before they get on planes. We've got Airport Liaison Officers in key hubs. They're offloading passengers where we deem them to be a security threat and there's a lot of work that's going on with the state authorities as well as with ASIO, the AFP, the Australian Border Force – all of them working very closely together – and that's the whole idea of this new Home Affairs portfolio as well.
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
Well the US President is cracking down. He wants to tighten laws around Green Cards. How much impact will that have on Aussies living, working and holidaying in the US?
PETER DUTTON:
Well it could have a big impact, but as you'd expect, the President reflects the view of the American people in that they want to make sure the people who are coming to their country are the right people; that is they're people that are going to abide by the law, adhere to American values and make sure that they don't pose a threat – and they're similar policy settings that we've got here.
We're lucky in the fact that we're an island nation and we have the ability to stop people hopping on planes and it's why we've got a tough border protection policy when it comes to boats as well.
So the Americans will do what's in their national interest; we'll do what's in ours, but we will work very closely with the United States sharing intelligence and information literally around the clock. We work very closely with our Five Eyes partners.
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
Alright. Now the Prime Minister is returning from Israel and he's coming back to the chaos of the citizenship fiasco. Why won't you just hold an audit and get this mess sorted once and for all?
PETER DUTTON:
Well Deb, the difficulty with the audit is that there's one report that if you were of Italian origin it could descend six generations without you even doing anything. You could be born here, your grandparents were born here…
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
…but isn't that confusion even more reason to get it clarified?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I think the point is that the onus is on the individual to go back through their family trees…
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
…but the individuals aren't doing that, that's not occurring.
PETER DUTTON:
Well I think they are and I think even with the latest incident of Stephen Parry, he was obviously waiting for the outcome of the court to decide whether or not …
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
…he sure was, he waited three months.
PETER DUTTON:
Well he was waiting for the judgement and I think obviously a lot of people were waiting to see how the court ruled and whether or not particular people would be captured by the legislation.
I think people know, at least to a limited degree, their backgrounds and their histories and if they need to do some research – and this is across politics – it applies to candidates who have run and I suspect if you go back over the last couple of decades you'd find people – including Prime Ministers frankly – who weren't qualified.
So there's a lot of work that needs to be done, but the onus is on the individual to demonstrate that they're eligible, that they're in compliance with that particular provision of the constitution.
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
Alright, well Barnaby Joyce says that other politicians will be caught up in this. You've got a slim majority. Are you worried you'll have no one left?
PETER DUTTON:
No, we're not. As I say, I think it's difficult for some people because they're relying on other country's laws. It's not about the Australian law as to whether or not you're an Australian citizen. They've got an honest held belief for many people.
If you look back at some of the cases, that they were born here, their parents were born here, their grandparents were born here and yet in some cases people are still captured by a change in the law in Italy or in France or somewhere else.
So people have to look at their individual circumstances and I think now it will be the case that people really dig deeper into their backgrounds and make sure that they're complying with the Australian law.
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
Alright and just quickly on the issue of Manus Island, how do you resolve that peacefully? We know that the asylum seekers don't want to leave and the locals don't want them there.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, there's new facilities that have been built and it's a much better facility than where people are at the moment and I'd just say to the advocates here who are telling people not to move, to resist moving centres; that they're not doing those people any favours. We've got a deal with the United States to move 1,200 people. I want to close Manus as quickly as possible, but it doesn't help when you've got the Greens and others who are telling people not to engage, not to move. It makes a very difficult situation even worse.
DEBORAH KNIGHT:
Alright. Minister, thanks for your time this morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Deb.
[ends]