Subjects: tougher penalties for fruit contamination; Ministerial intervention powers.
EO&E...........................................................................................................................................
PETER DUTTON:
Well everyone, thank you very much for being here today. As we saw earlier, the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General made some very important announcements in relation to what has become a very serious issue. The Government's very concerned for farmers and for families in relation to these incidents.
I can report to you that we have been doing a lot of work, from the Commonwealth perspective, with the state agencies. I pay tribute to Queensland Police and the other police agencies around the country that have been working very much in a coordinated way in relation to the response to the strawberry contamination issue. I want to say thank you very much to Commissioner Colvin and also to Commissioner Outram; both have been involved and obviously will provide whatever support the Commonwealth can to the state agencies to help bring an end to this very serious situation.
I want to make a couple of important points. I want to advise – and these numbers are fluid – but I want to advise that there are now over a hundred cases where there is a report of fruit being contaminated. Now we believe that a lot of these will be hoaxes or copycat events, but the most important point to make here is that it is a diversion of policing resources when we want to be finding the true culprits here. We don't want policing resources being distracted and being diverted into posts that have been put up; people might think that they're funny, people might think that somehow this is an image to be shared, but all it does is distract away from the main policing efforts so I would encourage anyone to pull any of that content down that they have posted that's fictional or is a fabricated arrangement.
So the policing effort needs to be in relation to where we believe the real problem is and at the moment, predominantly that is in Queensland. So that's the situation in relation to the first point.
The other point that I want to make is that the Government, as the Prime Minister pointed out this morning, is very concerned not only for families who are worried about kids consuming fruit that may be contaminated, but also for farmers and for their families as well. Strawberry farmers are impacted in a negative way. This has a huge reputational risk to the industry, to our export industry etc. so this is a very significant issue.
And because almost every jurisdiction is now touched by this particular incident and because we're now talking over 100 reports, it is a very significant issue that we need to deal with. So I want to ask anybody that has any information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800-333-000 to provide that information. And, as I say, from a Commonwealth perspective, we will provide whatever assistance we can.
I'll just ask both Commissioners to make some quick remarks and then I'm happy to take some questions.
ANDREW COLVIN:
Yes thank you Minister and good afternoon everybody. Thanks for coming along.
As the Minister has said, the AFP is now working very closely with our state and territory policing counterparts on what is a nationally coordinated, but a Queensland Police-led investigation.
Like everyone, we are alarmed and very concerned by what we're seeing occurring around the country. We certainly welcome the announcement this morning from the Government to strengthen laws and we should make it very clear that these are serious criminal offences that apply, potentially at the Commonwealth level, but also certainly at the state level and that's appropriate and that's what people need to remember.
I can't give you a rundown, I won't give a rundown on what is a very fluid investigation other than to make a couple of points.
Queensland Police, as I say, have the lead and they are now working on a number of active leads in relation to this matter. But they are coordinating very well with jurisdictions around the country. The Minister has mentioned over 100 incidents have been reported. Now I say incidents reported loosely because we do believe that a large number of these are fake or they are hoax incidents. Now that is a significant distraction of police resources at a time when we need to be focused on finding out who the perpetrators are of what is a very serious criminal offence.
On that point, let me say this and let me be very clear: if there's anyone out there that thinks that this is in any way amusing or appropriate to walk into a supermarket anywhere in this country and place a foreign object into a piece of fruit, or they think that it's any way appropriate or amusing to take a photo of fruit that they may already have and to place an object in it and put it onto Twitter or put in onto Facebook and to spread it around and to contact health authorities, then they are seriously deluded and are potentially committing very serious criminal offences. Apart from distracting police from the real task that we have here, this is creating a lot of concern in the public and it needs to stop.
The Minister has already mentioned Crime Stoppers 1800-333-000. I'd also encourage anyone out there who does have a serious incident to report – obviously if you come across an object in your fruit and heaven forbid that you actually take a bite, you need to contact police and get emergency help, of course – but if you have serious concerns or you have information that may be valuable to us, then please contact Crime Stoppers immediately. I'll leave it at that.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks Commissioner. Mike?
MICHAEL OUTRAM:
Yes. Thank you Minister.
So you may be asking why is the Australian Border Force here? The answer to that is some people in Queensland may well have seen Border Force officers out there supporting Queensland Police in relation to their investigation. Over three days recently – the 15th, 16th and 17th September – we've provided our mobile x-ray units in support of the Queensland investigation. Given the harm to our community and the harm to one of our industries, it's entirely appropriate the Australian Border Force resources are brought in to support the police effort where appropriate and I'll continue to support that. Thank you.
PETER DUTTON:
Okay. I'm happy to take any questions in relation to this matter.
QUESTION:
Doesn't this strawberry saga just show how incredibly vulnerable our food chain is to attack or terrorist attack?
PETER DUTTON:
Well it certainly demonstrates that there needs to be a rapid response and the Government's provided that rapid response with the Prime Minister's announcement this morning, the work that we've done in concert with the Queensland Police and the other agencies around the country. We can imagine any number of instances, of ways in which people can commit offences in relation to food supply chains or other incidents that people might think could be funny, or they have a grievance in a workplace – whatever it might be. Our job is to respond to that and I think the agencies have responded very well. But it is a great frustration when the investigators are trying to track down the main perpetrators and we're getting hoaxes and copycats putting up information online that means the police are deviated across to that line of inquiry, which proves to be nothing more than a fiction.
QUESTION:
What's the Government's response to the terror organisational loan wolf attacks which we often hear about, deciding to follow a plan similar to this? What have you learnt from this saga over the past week or so and how alarmed are you that this could genuinely become a mode of attack or a means of attack by those who wish to do us serious harm?
PETER DUTTON:
Well I just think we need to put into perspective what we're dealing with now. What we're dealing with is trying to identify who is at the source of the original offence, the original crime, and that's under investigation obviously. But we do have a number of people who are across jurisdictions obviously who are uploading photos, who have been a copycat of the original offence. That's what we're focused on at the moment. So if people have information, we want them to contact Crime Stoppers as quickly as possible.
QUESTION:
Minister, is there any talk about a reward to find the culprits or even have you had a conversation on social media platforms about ….[inaudible]….. allowing these things to go up online?
PETER DUTTON:
Well my understanding is that Queensland has already offered a reward and I understand that New South Wales is considering that as well. So that'll be an issue for the state governments.
It's a very important message to families: don't stop buying fruit, just be very careful about the preparation of that before it's consumed. I'm having strawberries for lunch today, I cut them up this morning here in Canberra and I would encourage Australians not to stop buying strawberries or fruit. Please support the farmers because the farmers and their families also suffer during the course of this and we want to make sure that people are assured that they've carried out the preparation appropriately, considered the risks and making decisions about what they feed their own children or their own families.
QUESTION:
[inaudible]…….would go to the supermarket chains also, because it affects the major supermarket chains who've taken them off the shelves and they aren't giving Australian shoppers the chance to pick them up. So I mean, you'd really have a message for Coles and Woollies……[inaudible]……?
PETER DUTTON:
Well look our message is to the community: don't disrupt your consumption patterns, just make sure that you take the appropriate cautionary approach to the preparation of the food, make sure that it's probably examined before you feed your kids. All of that common sense approach and that's going to support the farmers and it's going to send a very clear message that this sort of activity is not going to cause the disruption that was intended.
QUESTION:
…do you have any leads…..[inaudible]…..or any suspects….[inaudible]….or anything to look at so far?
ANDREW COLVIN:
Minister, if I may. As I said, Queensland Police have got the lead on the investigation. It's very fluid, there are a numbers of avenues of inquiry that they're following up and I'll just leave it at that.
QUESTION:
Is there an indication at this stage – a percentage, of how many of the cases are legitimate and how many are hoaxes?
ANDREW COLVIN:
So, if I may, this is the challenge that we have. We have to take every report as if it's legitimate and that's taking a lot of time and a lot of resources of police to follow them all down and establish it. We believe a lot of them, based on what is a very early stages of this investigation, are hoax and or copycat, which we have to narrow down to what is the serious crime that we're trying to deal with here? So I can't give you a percentage, other than to say that that constant message is that this isn't amusing in any way and it's a waste of police resources chasing down hoax and copycat crimes.
QUESTION:
Is there a risk that it could go to more than just strawberries, could it go to avocados, bananas……[inaudible]…..?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, as I say, the first point to make is that we're predominantly looking at an issue Queensland based, but nonetheless not confined just to Queensland. Predominately the issue has been with strawberries, but there have been reports otherwise. So let's be very clear about it, if somebody has the intent, if they're deranged enough to be putting needles or some foreign object into strawberries, well they can do it with other fruits as well. So people need to be cautious about that consumption and the preparation of it, but the police obviously are looking at every angle. Alright. I'll take a couple of questions on current issues otherwise.
QUESTION:
Minister, a Senate Inquiry into the au pairs issue has released about 180 pages of documents. They show you took an urgent and personal interest in these cases. Is that the sort of standard level of interest that the Home Affairs Minister takes in these cases and in light of these documents are you still comfortable that you've behaved within the Ministerial Guidelines?
PETER DUTTON:
Well I don't want to pre-empt the report of the Labor-Greens Senate Inquiry. So I don't want you to be surprised…
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PETER DUTTON:
….so I don't want you to be surprised that when you've got a Labor-Greens majority Senate report – which is nothing more than a witch hunt – I suspect, and again, without pre-empting or spoiling your surprise, I suspect they're going to say that I'm a bad person. The evidence won't back that up, but that will be the claim of course made by Labor and the Greens. Now that's their political angle that they want to take.
Obviously they thought they had a star witness who proved to be discredited. There is no third case, as referred to by one of the witnesses. The witness didn't come forward to be cross-examined.
This is nothing more than a witch hunt. It was always the case and if they can point to something to the contrary, let them do that. But I suspect they can't do that because they haven't provided the evidence and that was clear in the Inquiry. So it will be a political report with political recommendations from the Labor Party and the Greens, who have the numbers on that committee and I'm sorry to spoil your surprise.
QUESTION:
Minister, the emails seem to show that your office contacted the Queensland Police officer, is that the usual practise? Why didn't the Department do it?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, I mean, have a look at the thousands of cases that an Immigration Minister deals with on a yearly basis, across administrations. Contact is made through Members of Parliament. Cases are presented to my office on the phone – people ringing up my office every day, sending e-mails in to my MP address etc. I mean, the queries come in through a number of ways and we can ask for information in relation to those cases.
The two instances that you're talking about don't deviate from normal practice, not of me as Immigration Minister, not if Chris Bowen is Immigration Minister and a long line before it.
QUESTION:
Minister, you say that these didn't deviate, does that mean that every case gets this kind of intervention from your office?
PETER DUTTON:
No it won't. In terms of the assessment, I look at matters on their merit and, as I reported the other day to the House, cases I've intervened in very quickly – to go back to the previous point – where kids are involved that are sick, where the Department's recommending an aged parent with terminal illness, but is it the end of their visa period to be deported and advising me that that person should be deported; I've overturned that decision of the Department. That's the whole idea of ministerial intervention. A case where a lady wanted to go to a funeral recently and I intervened in a matter of hours from memory in relation to that matter as well. And that has been the history of Immigration Ministers.
So look at the original claims that were made in relation to this case. Look at some of the fallacious points that were put by the Labor Party and the Greens. None of it has come to anything and this is actually why Shayne Neumann, I think in his first question got number eight, after having built it up in the media for a couple of weeks. They haven't asked a question, not yesterday, not the day before. Let's look at the obvious political interference here.
One more.
QUESTION:
Regarding the case of the au pair in Adelaide, it is clear from the emails that the ABF opposed the use of your powers, told you that the Department will be liable for the cost of the flight and the office went into overdrive for a solution. So are you still saying that you don't know these people?
PETER DUTTON:
….mate I've already dealt with all of those facts. Is there any other issues?
QUESTION:
Was there a cost to the Commonwealth because she was already on a plane?
PETER DUTTON:
No there was no cost to the Commonwealth. I think that's been established.
QUESTION:
But Minister, was it usual to take her off the plane before the intervention had been made?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, you can't have ministerial intervention after somebody has been deported, right? So the opportunity for a minister to exercise ministerial intervention is whilst the person is still in Australia or in immigration detention.
So, as I say, there will be – from my perspective and I suspect from yours as well – no surprises when you read a Labor-Green report that dominated for political reasons. The witnesses have been discredited and I think you'll see it pretty obvious, what they recommend by way of recommendations and I'd brace yourself for that.
Thanks very much.
[ends]