Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for bringing the motion before the House. In the language of the western Torres Strait, ‘Malu Sara’ is the name given to the seagull. It is a name familiar to many in this place. It is a name that will be linked forever with the tragic events of October 2005, when five people, travelling across the Torres Strait on a Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs vessel, were lost at sea. The name of the boat was the Malu Sara. The names of those who were lost include: Wilfred Baira, a movement-monitoring officer for the department of immigration and the skipper of the Malu Sara; Ted Harry, also a movement-monitoring officer and a deckhand on the boat; and three passengers—Valerie Saub, Flora Enosa and Flora’s five-year-old daughter, Ethena Enosa.

On 14 October 2005 the Malu Sara was returning from Saibai Island in the Torres Strait to its home community on Badu Island following an annual workshop run by the department of immigration. By mid-afternoon that day, the skipper had reported that he was lost in fog. Early on the morning of 15 October, Wilfred Baira contacted the local office of the department and reported that the Malu Sara was sinking. Rescue operations were undertaken by various authorities over a period of six days, but the boat and the people on board were not located. Only one body was subsequently found by an Indonesian fisherman some 80 kilometres west of where the boat was thought to have sunk. That was the body of Flora Enosa.

In his report on the tragedy, the Queensland Coroner found that the Malu Sara had sunk at 4 am on the morning of 15 October 2010. The tragic fate of the Malu Sara must never be forgotten. We must remember the families, kith and kin of those lost as a result of the terrible tragedy. For the small, tight-knit community of the Torres Strait, the impact of these events is still causing enormous grief. There is a feeling that there is still some way to go before a measure of justice is attained. While respecting the opinion of the community in this regard, it is also useful that, here in this place, we reflect on what has been done in the past five years to address the issues raised by the sinking of this vessel.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has received two claims for civil compensation, as the honourable member for Leichhardt has pointed out. One claim was resolved at mediation on 27 May 2010 and another claim was resolved at mediation on 12 October 2010. The terms of settlement are confidential for the benefit of all, especially the children. Financial compensation, for the reasons spelled out by the member for Leichhardt, can never truly compensate the families left behind after such a terrible event. I am sure the department recognises—and I know the government does—the hurt and pain that this tragedy has caused the families of those who lost their lives when the Malu Sara sank. The department was committed to resolving the families’ claims in a fair and timely manner, with appropriate compensation.

On 2 December last year, the Federal Court, presided over by Justice Collier, delivered its judgment in a Comcare prosecution. The court found that the Commonwealth had breached the relevant provisions of the occupational health and safety legislation and imposed the maximum penalty of $242,000 on the respondent—the Commonwealth. At all stages during the legal action, the department sought to facilitate an expeditious resolution of Comcare’s civil prosecution of the department by minimising the issues in dispute between the parties, including by formally admitting breaches of the occupational health and safety legislation and filing an agreed statement of facts. The court, in its judgment, acknowledged the positive actions post facto that had been taken by the department in the wake of the tragedy. Notwithstanding this, due to the gravity of the consequences of the department’s own breaches, a maximum penalty was imposed.

I am advised that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship accept the recommendations of the independent investigations undertaken by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Comcare and the Queensland coronial inquiry. I am also advised that the department has implemented significant changes to its operations to ensure such a tragedy can never occur again. Indeed, in their judgment, the Federal Court observed that the department has implemented new procurement and contractual procedures, including specific further steps in relation to operations in the Torres Strait.

In addition to their prosecutions of the Commonwealth, Comcare have initiated civil proceedings against the builder of the boat, Subsee Explorer Pty Ltd. As this legal action is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment specifically on the tendering arrangements regarding the procurement of the vessels that included the Malu Sara. However, the department and the government have indicated a willingness to learn from this tragedy and undertake the necessary reforms to ensure it could never happen again.

In my former life I was the National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, the industrial organisation that represents the industrial interests of employees of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. It was with great sadness that we learned that one of the employees on board the boat was indeed a member of our union. This is a matter I have had ongoing interest in. I acknowledge the genuine concern of the member for Leichhardt for the welfare of the victims’ families, but at this stage the government does not believe the most appropriate way to proceed with this matter is for the legislation of a trust.

That said, I make it plain that I wish to work with the member for Leichhardt to ensure that the proposals included in this motion before the House can be progressed, because I think there is much that can be done. For instance, I think the proposition within the motion that an appropriate memorial be established on Thursday Island and on Badu is appropriate. It beggars belief that any of the residents or the families of those lost in this incident would ever travel to Canberra to visit buildings that had been named after them. Also from my former life as a lawyer I am aware that it is not unusual for a fine of this sort to be paid to the benefit of families, so I would like to work with honourable members opposite to ensure that occurs for the benefit of the communities that have been affected. I would also take an ongoing interest in ensuring that the breaches and shortfalls in policy and procedures that were evidenced in this case do not occur again and that we can learn everything possible from the findings of the coronial inquiry and the Federal Court matters that have thus far been included.

In conclusion, the government and the department have accepted responsibility for the tragic events of the Malu Sara by cooperating with legal action, both current and pending. Compensation for the families of victims has occurred, and we are changing internal processes such as tendering and procurement. Nothing can bring the lost ones home but we must remember, learn and change to ensure that their deaths, while terribly sad and tragic, were not in vain. I repeat again that if there is anything I can do as an individual member, I am prepared to help. Torres Strait is a long way from the electorate of Throsby. I have spent too long as an official for the Community and Public Sector Union not to want to continue to prosecute the cause of health and safety for those who put their lives at risk in the service of their country, such as those charged with the terribly important duty of protecting our borders in the northern parts of Australia.

Wilfred Baira, Immigration officer; Ted Harry, Immigration Officer; Valorie Faub; Flora Enosa and her daughter Ethena. Rest in peace

I rise to support the Member for Leichhardt’s motion seeking government support for the victims of the loss of the Malu Sara. I cannot remove the politics from this, because I believe the government has a role here. It must act, on behalf of the government in charge at the time and the government now. I shudder to think what would have happened if this accident had occurred in Sydney Harbour or on Port Phillip Bay, and what the level of compensation and the amount of transparency would have been then. I cannot help but feel that those of us who live northern Australia are quite often subject to another set of rules.

The Malu Sara set out on a journey from Saibai Island to Badu Island on 14 October 2005. It never made it. These people were not on a fishing trip in a beat-up tinnie; they were on patrol for the department of immigration. They did not have useless or failed safety equipment. The government did not give them any of the latest safety equipment. They also sent them out in atrocious conditions. I do not propose to take shots at the government officials who sent these people out with inferior equipment saying that they were two generations behind and would not be able to use more modern equipment. The coroner has done his job and I just pray that we never have to speak about these sorts of totally avoidable tragedies ever again.

If you have spent any time in the Torres Strait you would know that these people are instinctive and natural sailors, but this is a hostile environment and one where everyone should take the greatest of care. It may not look like it when you are standing on the dock at Thursday Island watching these guys going past in their big tinnies with huge outboards on the back doing a million miles an hour, seemingly without a care in the world, but the rips and tides are huge in the strait and trouble is never very far away for the unwary.

The coroner has dealt a fine of $242,000 to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, and recommended disciplinary measures to the individuals concerned. But we must say to all the people of Australia that they are equal and they are valued. We must say to all the people of Australia that if the government does something wrong it must be prepared to assist with the recovery. I propose that we do the right thing by these people. What we have here is a breach of faith by all governments and there is a lack of respect for those who have fallen. What we have to do is fix it.

To fine a government department $242,000 is one thing—and I recognise that that is the maximum penalty available—but to have the money go back to the government is a complete waste of time. They may as well not do the transaction at all, for all it will achieve. The member for Leichhardt rightly suggests that the money be given to the families of the deceased in the form of a trust for the children of the deceased. They are being cared for by grandparents and their community. Let no-one here suggest that money can take the place of a loving parent, but they are deserving of support. They will have needs for education and social inclusion, which will always cost money. We must do what we can to ease the burden of those who are left to take the place of a parent lost due to government error.

The $242,000 would be a good start. It will do them a damn sight more good than it will by going back into consolidated revenue. Governments must also be prepared to assist in the future should that need arise. We must also warn others that all governments may not always have their best interests at heart. If the government tried to launch this boat as it was on the Swan River, in Sydney Harbour or in Port Phillip Bay they would have been laughed off the dock. It simply would not have happened. But in the Torres Strait the department deemed it okay to send them out into one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world with inadequate equipment and in atrocious conditions.

The government has named two rooms in Parliament House in their honour. As prestigious as that may be, it will have absolutely no impact on those in the Torres Strait. The member for Leichhardt has rightly suggested twin memorials in appropriate places on Badu and Thursday Islands. If you stand on tiptoes on the Russian fort at Thursday Island you can just see the mainland. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but you are as close as close can be to Papua New Guinea.

The immigration officials and the guys operating these cruises are making sure that people are doing the right thing, but the traffic between Papua New Guinea and Torres Strait is huge. There are five beds in the Thursday Island hospital that are continually filled by those from Papua New Guinea with drug-resistant tuberculosis, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and the like. It is a very dangerous place and they are very mobile, so the role these people play is vital.

There are island communities in the electorate of Herbert. The people on Magnetic and Palm Islands also extend their sympathies and condolences to the five deceased and their families. I need to speak out on this because Palm Island is populated by our first people. A tragedy like this could happen nearer to Townsville. I swore to all the people I represent in the seat of Herbert that no-one will be left behind.

I firmly believe that this government is all talk and no action when it comes to our first Australians. You only have to look at Palm Island to see the level of housing being developed and to see the absolute waste and contempt in which the government holds these people. We are building houses on Palm Island which are two feet below the line of the sewerage. I cannot say in this House what you can push uphill, but it is very difficult.

We recently saw the government table the Closing the gap Prime Minister’s report 2010. I challenge the government’s commitment to this when you look at the treatment of these poor souls sent to their deaths and detention on Palm Island. If the government is serious about closing the gap and being upfront and honest with our first Australians, they have to act swiftly. To delay is to say that they are indeed second-class citizens and do not deserve to be treated as equals. I now challenge the government and ministers Bowen and Macklin to attend these islands and tell the people that they would not have received better equipment in other parts of Australia. I challenge the government and ministers Bowen and Macklin to front these people and tell them that a room in Parliament House is a huge honour and they should be happy with that. I challenge the government and ministers Bowen and Macklin to front these people and be fair dinkum.

I do not excuse the Howard government for their role here, but I want this fixed, and we, this parliament and this government are the ones who can and should facilitate this. It is time to act and time to be upfront. You cannot just do it in the Murray-Darling Basin, in places in Sydney or in the inner suburbs of Melbourne; we have to do it in northern Australia. I commend the member’s motion to this House.

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