Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That:

(1)

a Joint Select Committee on the Christmas Island tragedy of 15 December 2010 be appointed to inquire into and report on the incident of 15 December 2010 in which an irregular entry vessel foundered on rocks at Rocky Point on Christmas Island, including:

(a)

operational responses of all Commonwealth agencies involved in the response, relevant agency procedures, and inter-agency coordination;

(b)

communication mechanisms, including between Commonwealth and State agencies;

(c)

relevant onshore emergency response capabilities on Christmas Island;

(d)

the after-incident support provided to survivors;

(e)

the after-incident support provided to affected Christmas Island community members, Customs, Defence and other personnel;

(f)

having regard to (a) to (e), the effectiveness of the relevant administrative and operational procedures and arrangements of Commonwealth agencies in relation to the SIEV 221 incident and its management; and

(g)

being mindful of ongoing national security, disruption and law enforcement efforts and the investigations referred to in paragraph (3), to consider appropriate information from the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (including Border Protection Command) to determine, to the extent that it is possible, the likely point of origin of the vessel;

(2)

the Committee should have regard to:

(a)   the findings and recommendations of Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (including Border Protection Command) internal review of actions relating to SIEV 221; and

(b)   the work being undertaken by the Christmas Island Emergency Management Committee;

(3)

the Committee should have regard to and be mindful of independent parallel investigations into the incident including the investigation by the State Coroner of WA and investigations by the Australian Federal Police, and conduct its inquiry accordingly;

(4)

the Committee should report to Parliament and make recommendations to the Minister for Home Affairs and Justice and the Minister for Regional Development (relevant to his responsibilities for Australian Territories);

(5)

the Committee consist of 10 members: 3 Members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Government Whip, 2 Members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Opposition Whip, 2 Senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, 1 Senator to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, one Senator to be nominated by the Australian Greens, and one Family First Senator;

(6)

every nomination of a member of the Committee be notified in writing to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(7)

the members of the Committee hold office as a Joint Select Committee until presentation of the Committee’s report or the House of Representatives is dissolved or expires by effluxion of time, whichever is the earlier;

(8)

the Committee elect a Government Member as its Chair;

(9)

the Committee elect a member as its Deputy Chair who shall act as Chair of the Committee at any time when the Chair is not present at a meeting of the Committee, and at any time when the Chair and Deputy Chair are not present at a meeting of the Committee the members present shall elect another member to act as Chair at that meeting;

(10)

in the event of an equally divided vote, the Chair, or the Deputy Chair when acting as Chair, have a casting vote;

(11)

3 members of the Committee constitute a quorum of the Committee provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include the Chair of the Committee, 1 Government member of either House and 1 non-Government member of either House;

(12)

the Committee have power to call for witnesses to attend and for documents to be produced;

(13)

the Committee may conduct proceedings at any place it sees fit;

(14)

the Committee have power to adjourn from time to time and to sit during any adjournment of the Senate and the House of Representatives;

(15)

the Committee present its final report no later than 30 June 2011;

(16)

the provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders; and

(17)

a message be sent to the Senate acquainting it of this resolution and seeking its concurrence in this resolution.

This motion establishes a joint select committee into the Christmas Island tragedy which occurred on 15 December 2010. This is an important inquiry for a number of reasons, the first of which is to acknowledge the human tragedy that occurred at Rocky Point that day and to demonstrate that the Australian parliament too recognises the human consequences. Forty-one people were rescued from the water, one person swam ashore and 30 bodies were recovered, with others lost at sea. It was a harrowing experience for all involved: the people on the vessel; the local Christmas Island residents, who did everything they could to help the survivors; and the Customs and Navy officers involved in the dangerous rescue and search mission. True bravery was on display during the incident. Differences were cast aside as people took great risks to help and ultimately to save lives.

I was on Christmas Island on the day of the tragedy and met firsthand local residents and Customs, Navy and AFP officers working to assist the rescue. I was honoured to be able to personally express appreciation for their work and their courage, and I want to publicly acknowledge and thank them. Their efforts saved lives. I also acknowledge the AFP members of the disaster victim identification unit, who had the tough and painstaking work of identifying the victims and treating the deceased and their families with sensitivity and respect. Finally, I want to pay particular tribute to those crew in the tenders and RIBs who plucked 41 survivors from the sea. I am indeed looking forward to thanking them personally when time permits.

In establishing this committee, the government acknowledges the important reviews that have already occurred and those processes which are still continuing: the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service internal review, which was publicly released on 24 January this year; the Christmas Island Emergency Management Committee review; the Western Australian state coronial inquiry, which is on foot; and the Australian Federal Police criminal investigation on matters under Australia’s people-smuggling laws.

Similarly, the joint select committee will build on the work of the standing group which was established by the Prime Minister on the day following the tragedy. The standing group was created to ensure that the facts surrounding the incident were known and reported as they became clear, to provide direct accountability between all government agencies involved in the incident and the parliament.

As the Prime Minister said on 16 December 2010 when she announced the standing group, it is important that ‘every truth, every fact about this tragic incident, is known to decision makers and the general public’. The establishment of the standing group was also recognition of the tragedy that occurred, and the members and senators who participated showed honest compassion and professionalism in coming together to address this incident as both Australians and representatives of their communities—not just as representatives of a political party. I would like to publicly acknowledge the standing group and to thank all of its members: Senator Xenophon, Senator Fielding, Senator Hanson-Young and Mr Crook. The joint select committee will of course also include members of the opposition, and I call on them to ensure that, so far as possible, the bipartisanship continues. I trust that we can work constructively in that vein.

One of the key intentions of the government in establishing this committee is to ensure that the Australian community are able to understand what happened during this tragic incident and to provide information to parliamentarians in a transparent way. It is for that reason that the terms of reference for the joint select committee are focused on reviewing the operational response of all Commonwealth agencies, including both the direct response effort and the after-incident support. This will incorporate consideration of how agencies work together, how they coordinated responsibility for responding, the adequacy of their equipment and the location of that equipment.

The community needs to understand what happened and to consider whether, collectively, there is anything else that could have been done. While we cannot protect against every eventuality, the government is committed to ensuring that our agencies and the Christmas Island community are appropriately resourced to respond.

The Gillard government condemns people smuggling. It sees criminals profit at the expense of others and puts the lives and safety of people at risk.

Customs has taken the first step towards answering some of the questions; however, their review was limited to Customs’ internal processes and its response to the tragedy. The joint select committee will go beyond this and will ensure that a collective whole-of-government understanding exists and that the whole-of-government response works as well as it possibly can. We want to ensure that our agencies are equipped to respond to the sudden emergence of a SOLAS situation in and around Christmas Island.

Already the government is acting on the recommendations put forward to date. We have accepted all eight recommendations from the Customs internal review. We will be trialling new surveillance tools, we will provide additional safety and rescue equipment, and we will deliver more vessels to the AFP and the Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government. What more can be done now remains a matter for the joint select committee. I commend this motion to the House.

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