Australian PM says no apology over Border Force’s secret boat returnee scheme

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dismissed concerns a secret operation using fishing boats to remove people from Australia’s northern waters is subsidising illegal fishers and people smugglers.

Last week an Australian Border Force (ABF) vessel docked in Broome carrying four modified fishing boats, giving locals a firsthand look at an ongoing Commonwealth program of buying fishing boats from across Australia.

Multiple sources say the boats are given to illegal fishers and asylum seekers found in Australia’s waters as a safe way to return home. 

They are also used for agency training in the north and surveillance.

Mr Albanese said he “makes no apologies” for Operation Sovereign Borders, a border protection policy introduced by Tony Abbott’s Coalition government in 2013.

“I said that people wouldn’t be allowed to come here unauthorised, that’s precisely what we are doing,” he said.

“What we are doing is making sure we deliver.”

Mr Albanese refused to say how much the scheme, which sources say has involved at least 20 boats being purchased in Western Australia, is costing taxpayers, but said it was legacy policy.

“The truth is there were a range of operations put in place, including under the former government,” he said.

Operation Sovereign Borders was designed to be a military-led effort to combat the rise of maritime people smuggling and to protect Australia’s border. It also aims to prevent deaths at sea.

It continues today, declaring Australia’s borders are closed to unauthorised maritime arrivals.

In a video message from the commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, people who attempt to reach Australia by boat are warned: “You will be either turned back, returned to your country of origin, or transferred to regional processing.”

An ongoing operation

Allegations Australian authorities are giving former fishing boats to people found in our waters first surfaced last year when a former Geraldton cray boat appeared in Indonesia.

Multiple sources have told the ABC this boat was part of the program where an agency operating on behalf of ABF purchased fishing boats from across Australia, targeting boats for sale in the $150,000 to $250,000 price range.

Boats are assessed for their seaworthiness and modified to include shade and seating.

Identifying features such as names and numbers on the boats are removed, along with some technology used by commercial fishers in Australia.

What happens to the boats?

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonno Duniam said the government needed to address questions on what the fishing boats were costing taxpayers, and what happened to them once they left Australian waters.

“This raises serious questions about whether Labor is effectively overseeing a trade-in scheme for criminals,” he said.

“Are they being turned back around again to re-enter our shores?

“We need clarity from the Albanese government about what the ABF is doing, how many vessels are being purchased, and what safeguards exist to stop them re-entering the people-smuggling pipeline.

“Labor are down on surveillance flights while over 30 illegal boat ventures, carrying more than 600 people, have tried to breach our border.

“Where is the Home Affairs minister?”

The ABC has contacted the Home Affairs and Defence ministers’ offices.

--Agencies