Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. I refer the minister to his statement yesterday that the Australian Federal Police report Strategic intelligence forecast—transnational criminal trends and threats to Australia, which reportedly stated that people smugglers will market recent changes in Australia’s immigration policy to entice potential illegal immigrants, was ‘highly classified and disseminated internally’. Will the minister confirm that a version of the report was sent to nine agencies in Australia and six agencies overseas, including the New Zealand Police, the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police? Will the minister also inform the House—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Those on my right!

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Will the minister also inform the House whether he has now read or been briefed on this report and explain to the House what it says about the impact of the government’s changes to border security policy?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question. I thought after yesterday’s effort she would have realised that there is no way in which this particular classified report would be disclosed publicly. As the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police said two days ago in Senate estimates, there was prepared in March of this year an internal classified report that was provided to people within the Australian Federal Police. He went on to confirm there was a sanitised version that was provided to agencies within this country and some agencies outside of this country.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

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

He went on to say—if the opposition just calm down a bit; just relax and we will get to it—in Senate estimates, while being questioned by Senator Brandis, that he confirmed that the intelligence report had never been provided to ministers. Indeed, he stated that the report was an ‘operationally focused document’ and it would be inappropriate to provide it to ministers. That is already on the record. Unless the shadow minister for justice is seeking to suggest that the Australian Federal Police commissioner would indeed mislead the Senate—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So PC blogs can have it but not the minister—what a joke!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Now that the member for Hume seems to have ceded the call to the Manager of Opposition Business, who was the only one seeking the call, I now give the member for Sturt the call.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With great respect, Mr Speaker, under the standing order of relevance the minister was asked: as the report has circulated around the world, has he now availed himself of the information so he can do his job properly as a minister?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member will resume his seat. The minister is answering the question.

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

It is quite remarkable that the shadow minister for justice and customs would indeed challenge the comments made by the Australian Federal Police commissioner. I repeat: the sanitised version, as the commissioner outlined, was provided to agencies inside this country and outside this country. This classified report was not provided to ministers of this government. It would have been improper for him to provide it. I cannot believe that the shadow minister again seeks to verbal the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.