Subjects: People smuggling vessel; business investments; Liberal Party.
EO&E.................
PETER DUTTON:
When the Coalition was elected in 2013, we inherited an enormous mess – 50,000 people had arrived on 800 boats and tragically 1,200 people had drowned at sea.
We've made decisions every day to clean up that mess and to make sure that the people smugglers are kept out of business. I have said every day that we have an enduring threat from people smugglers who would seek to send people by boat to our country. I have warned the Labor Party time and time again about their commentary in relation to people coming to Australia and then ending up in New Zealand. I've warned the Labor Party about talking on time limits and how people if they stayed on Nauru or Manus, would be there only for a limited time and then would end up in our country; and I can't believe that the Labor Party still don't listen to those concerns.
I want to confirm for you today that Australia, we believe, has received the first vessel; the first people smuggling venture in over 1,400 days. The vessel arrived off the Daintree in Far North Queensland and obviously those matters are under investigation and there's an operation underway in relation to this matter.
Australia has thousands of kilometres of coastline and we have assets, both aerial and on the water and we look very closely at routes and act on intelligence when people provide that intelligence to look at where vessels are coming from. We believe that this vessel originated out of Vietnam and obviously there's a lot of work that's being undertaken by Australian Border Force, the Queensland Police and the Australian Federal Police at the moment.
We've been very frank with the Australian public that the threat of people smugglers hasn't gone away and the arrival of this boat should be a very clear and timely message that the people smugglers will seek to put people onto boats, to take money from innocent men, women and children and to send them to our country.
I'll send this very clear message to people smugglers today: you won't succeed, not under this Government.
We have been very clear that we won't allow people who arrive illegally into our country to settle in this country. People will be deported from our country at the first available opportunity and we will work through the agencies to make sure that we can repatriate these people back to their country of origin once we understand all of the facts in relation to the matter.
So it's still an ongoing operation, but people, as we've mentioned on many occasions before, people need to be cognisant of the fact that sophisticated ventures seek to come across the Torres Strait, down the east coast of Australia into New Zealand. We don't know the full facts in relation to this particular vessel yet, but it is under investigation and people should be very clear, as we're seeing on the Mediterranean now, people are getting on boats, people are drowning at sea and this problem has never gone away completely for Australia.
We’ve had a very proud record over the course of the last few years and we aren't going to take a backward step. The people smugglers need to hear the message from this Government very, very clearly: they will not succeed in putting people onto boats to get to Australia. We are working day and night to make sure that we stare down these people smugglers and to stop their evil trade.
QUESTION:
What do you know about boat and how it managed to get to land?
PETER DUTTON:
Well obviously there's, as I say, a significant effort from Maritime Border Command and from all of our agencies in stopping vessels. We have obviously a number of movements across the Torres Strait, across the top of Australia, down the west coast, indeed of course down the east coast as well. So the professionals, those people conducting the surveillance, they need to identify vessels.
Clearly there has been a problem in relation to the surveillance that's taken place of this particular vessel and the Maritime Border Command will learn the lessons in relation to this particular vessel, but we'll have a look at all of that as the operation continues.
QUESTION:
What do you mean there’s been a problem? Have they just [Inaudible]?
PETER DUTTON:
Well clearly there's been a failing when surveillance has not worked as it should in identifying this vessel or allowing this vessel to get as close to the coastline as it has, but we'll work through all of that. It's a reminder that these people smugglers haven't gone out of business.
There are 14,000 people in Indonesia right now who are waiting to get on to vessels to come to Australia. We can't allow people smugglers to get back into business.
The Labor Party is as weak as they've ever been in relation to border protection and the message Bill Shorten needs to hear out of today is; stop watering down Australia's border protection policies; stop talking about ways in which you're going to unwind our border protection policies because it sends a message to people smugglers and to the syndicates, which is not helpful.
This Government's not going to lose our resolve to stop the boats and I'm going to make sure that we do whatever we can to support our on-water personnel, our surveillance personnel that operate the aerial surveillance unit as well and we need to be very realistic about the threat that we face.
QUESTION:
What will happen with these people in the immediate future once they're caught?
PETER DUTTON:
Well that's obviously an issue for Australian Border Force at the moment. The initial response of course was to look at a very dangerous area where obviously it's crocodile infested. We need to make sure firstly that the people are safe in place and then we can start the process of deportation as quickly as possible.
QUESTION:
There were reports this morning that there were a few arrested, can you elaborate further on the numbers?
PETER DUTTON:
I just don't have any further comment in relation to the operational matter which is currently underway.
QUESTION:
Is there a possibility of more boats coming now?
PETER DUTTON:
Well there is a possibility of more boats and that's always been the case. We've had since 2014, 1,400 days where we've been able to turn back 33 boats, we've disrupted over 70 ventures – so this problem hasn't gone away – and because people aren't seeing the chaos that Labor presided over – pulling a thousand people a week off boats on Christmas Island – people somehow think the problem has gone away. It hasn't and I've said all along that we need to be very mindful of the fact that this problem is with us; it will always be with us.
We're an island nation, we've got thousands of kilometres of coastline to protect and we have a very, very attractive destination. People seek Australia out. They seek New Zealand out. Luckily for New Zealand there's a giant land mass of Australia is in between them and many of these source countries. So we just need to be very mindful of the reality of this threat.
QUESTION:
Minister do you plan on making changes to your investment portfolio before the next election?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, what would you suggest?
QUESTION:
I don't know. It's up to you.
PETER DUTTON:
Well if there are changes you can suggest, I'm happy to contemplate them.
QUESTION:
Are you contemplating any changes though?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, if you're happy to point out where they're inconsistent with the Ministerial Code or any issues that you've got, then please tell me what they are.
QUESTION:
It’s a yes/no question: are you willing to look at changing them?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, what are you suggesting should change because they're my investments. I started out with nothing. I worked in a butcher shop after school until I started university. I came from a working class family and with my wife, we've worked very hard to get what we've got and I have conducted all of our affairs in accordance with the Ministerial standards. I've declared any investments that we have and if you're making a suggestion otherwise, then I'd like you to detail them.
QUESTION:
A bit of time has passed; do you have any regrets about last week's spill?
PETER DUTTON:
No I don't, no.
QUESTION:
Would you change anything?
PETER DUTTON:
No, I wouldn't. No.
JOURNALIST:
What are you doing behind the scenes to unite your Party?
PETER DUTTON:
Well I've had a number of conversations with the Prime Minister. I believe that we've got in Scott Morrison as Prime Minister a man of integrity and I think the Australian public will warm very quickly to Scott Morrison.
People want their electricity prices cut; Scott Morrison is going to do everything he can to cut people's electricity prices. We've heard concerns about the drought that not enough was being done in relation to the drought; the Prime Minister's made it his first trip to go out to drought affected communities and this Government will work to make sure that we can help people with their cost of living pressures.
There's a lot of money that is required for infrastructure, including here in Queensland and I want to provide whatever support I can to the Prime Minister to make sure we get a fair package for Queensland and I believe that we will.
I think you'll find Scott Morrison to be a very down to earth person, a very honest, straightforward person, a very honourable person and I think Queenslanders and Australians will relate to him very quickly and if we do that, you'll see the complete contrast.
Bill Shorten is the opposite of all of those descriptions. He's a dishonourable person, he's got a chequered background, he's completely in lockstep with the militant CFMEU. He would be bad for families and small businesses in our country and I think people understand that Bill Shorten is not a good person and that puts him at the other end of the spectrum of where Scott Morrison is.
QUESTION:
Do you think he looks fairly good at the moment after your Party's last week?
PETER DUTTON:
Well again, look into Bill Shorten's background; I mean Bill Shorten was part of the Cabinet when 50,000 people arrived on 800 boats. He was a union leader when they ripped off penalty rates from low paid workers. He's been involved in every dodgy deal that the unions and the Labor Party have been involved in for a long period of time. This is a man with very poor character and Australians sense that, they've got an innate sense about Bill Shorten, they know it doesn't add up and I believe that over the course of the next period into May or whenever the next election is, people will see the real Bill Shorten. They've got a sniff of how bad he is. They look at his track record and I think people really will make a judgment on Bill Shorten and it won't be a positive one.
Thank you very much.
