Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015.

In the past decade Australia has seen a significant increase in its border interactions from both air and sea, and with this increase comes a need to ensure that our border protection authorities remain vigilant and have the capacity to respond to the unique challenges this presents to our nation.

People often think of border interactions as those instances where a passenger gets on or off a flight at an airport or boards a vessel at one of our many ports, but this only forms part of the framework that our border protection and Customs officers operate in and protect every minute of every day and, as I said, this is only increasing.

According to statistics outlined in the Customs Annual report 2003-04 and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Annual report 2013-14, Australia has seen a 44.17 per cent increase in the number of international passenger and crew border interactions from air and sea; an 83.59 per cent increase in the amount of incoming air cargo; and a 40.6 per cent increase in the amount of incoming sea cargo. This is the increase Australia has already seen in the past decade, but according to a recent joint report by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and Customs and Border Protection entitled Blueprint for integration, Australia's border interactions are not in any way slowing down.

In the globalised and digital world we live in, travel is becoming cheaper every day and communication more fast paced and dynamic than some of us could have even imagined. As a result, in the next four years the volume of people and goods crossing our borders is only set to increase further. In fact, it is projected to increase by 54 per cent for air cargo, by 23 per cent for air and sea travellers and by 17 per cent for sea cargo. I also found it very interesting to note that it is estimated in this same time frame that an additional 16.5 per cent student visas will be granted and 23 per cent more citizenship applications will be processed. As members can imagine, this is a lot of paperwork, a lot of processing and a lot of operational activities for both our immigration and Customs services.

By assessing and processing these statistics in this context it also highlights how these two departments regularly overlap and interact, which is what takes me to the heart of the bill before the House. That is because the aim of the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 and its cognate bill, the Customs and Other Legislation (Australian Border Force) Amendment Bill 2015, responds to this concept of duplication and overlapping by creating a new framework for border protection that ensures Australia's operative and processing capabilities are of the highest calibre and that our personnel uphold the integrity afforded by these offices.

To achieve this, and to ensure our detection methods in particular are meeting their objectives, it is therefore important for the government and our border protection personnel to regularly review their practices. It is through such a review that the framework of the bill before the House was designed and a series of reform methods identified for Australia's border continuum.

Each of these reform measures were announced by the former Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon. Scott Morrison, in May 2014, and are now being implemented by the recently-appointed minister to this portfolio, the Hon. Peter Dutton—an appointment which I congratulate the minister on.

They are reforms which I fully support to ensure Australia's national security is not jeopardised onshore or offshore, in particular within our maritime sphere. I highlight Australia's maritime sphere in this context because I believe it is important to remind members that Australia is a very unique country. It includes approximately 37,000 kilometres of coastline, much of which is in remote regions, making it very difficult for our border protection officers to monitor.

The cognate bills before the House will respond to these challenges and vulnerabilities by consolidating Australia's immigration and Customs services to create a single integrated operational organisation—the Australian Border Force—within the Department of Immigration and Border Protection from 1 July. These are necessary reforms which will enhance those already passed in this place and the other, which have aimed to strengthen this government's and our law enforcement agencies' ability to safeguard Australia's national security and safeguard the lives of every individual in this place and outside it.

By integrating these agencies we will improve information sharing, remove duplication and ensure our Customs operatives are being directed as a cohesive unit under one departmental umbrella. As Minister Dutton highlighted in his speech in this place; integration is not a new concept. In fact it has been heralded by two of our western society's leading countries on national security: the United States, through the Department of Homeland Security, and in the United Kingdom with the UK Home Office.

This government has done its due diligence by taking note of how reforms have been introduced in these countries and what has and has not worked before creating a framework for our own reform measures. We have also assessed these reforms with due regard to the differences between these countries' intelligence services compared to Australia's, as well as to the unique challenges that Australia faces—particularly, as I mentioned earlier, due to our predominantly regional, and therefore largely unmanned, coastline.

Despite this challenge, as members on this side of the House know, the coalition is a government which throughout history has been recognised for its capability in protecting our country's national security. That is the view we intend to uphold now in the face of our latest terrorist threat from Daesh, or ISIL or any threat made in the future. This has also been reflected though our strong stance on border protection with regard to those who seek to enter our country illegally, through the coalition's very effective Operation Sovereign Borders policy.

This policy is in fact a perfect example of where integration has ensured policy objectives are met, as this government believes it can and will be achieved across the Customs and immigration portfolios through the provisions outlined in the bill before the House.

Operation Sovereign Borders is a policy that has stopped the flow of illegal arrivals on our shores which, as members know, blew out by unprecedented proportions under those opposite. Members on this side of the House would also remember that this is not because they were handed a failed policy as this government was. No. Those opposite created and then mismanaged their failed policy and, if this were not bad enough, they then stood in this place, time and time again, and refused to accept that their policy had failed.

Now, those opposite stand in this place and continue to criticise Operation Sovereign Borders, despite it achieving its objective to stop the boats—which is something they could not even dream of. Yes, colleagues: their policy was a failure, and it is a failure that can simply be defined by this number—51,798.

Now, I know that those opposite seem to have short memories about their policy failures, despite this being a number that should resonate very clearly with them. So, just to be sure I have acted with due diligence, I will remind the opposition colleagues what this number actually represents. This is the number of people who arrived in Australia illegally by boat, excluding crew, under those opposite's border protection policy failure from 2008 to 2013, following the scrapping of John Howard's Pacific Solution. It is a policy that was scrapped, not because it was unsuccessful in combating people smuggling but simply because it was a policy that a coalition government implemented.

Members may ask what the impact of this policy failure was. As I said, I would like to ensure I fact checked, as I do not want my colleagues to misunderstand just how monumental this policy failure was—not just for the government but for the hip pocket of every Australian. The cost of that failed policy was $11.5 billion. That is the bill all Australian taxpayers have been forced to pay because those opposite removed an effective policy initiative and decided that billions of dollars in cost blowouts over five years was a great alternative.

Of course, this failure has not only been felt in Australia. It has also been felt by those asylum seekers who have done the right thing and applied offshore for a humanitarian visa but have been rejected. This is not because they are ineligible or because the government wants to reject their application; it is because every additional illegal arrival that is granted a visa means one less Special Humanitarian Program Visa that can be granted.

Nobody can blame asylum seekers for wanting to live in Australia. This is a great nation that affords its citizens and those who reside here with some of the best education, medical, welfare, social and economic benefits in the modern world. Australia is a nation that prides itself on multiculturalism, on standing up for those who are less fortunate and on providing significant humanitarian assistance to countries around the world. What this government and the Australian people do not appreciate, however, is those who seek to take advantage of our good will. And we do not appreciate those who work with organised crime syndicates—because that is exactly what people smugglers are—to try to circumvent our laws.

As I mentioned previously, the bill before the House is part of a series of reform measures aimed at ensuring current vulnerabilities are addressed, particularly those created by the level of increased border interactions Australia is witnessing. Integration between our Customs and immigration departments will assist in achieving this, and will ensure our departments are implementing best practice methodology as identified in our international allies' respective agencies.

By establishing the Australian Border Force as the single operational organisation within the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, the ABF will be responsible for border control and investigations, both land and maritime, and will also be responsible for compliance and enforcement across Customs and immigration, including onshore detentions and offshore processing operations. Policy support would therefore be delivered by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. In this context, 'policy' largely refers to processing of citizenship, refugee and humanitarian visas, immigration compliance and revenue collection. The department would also be responsible for corporate and border services such as security, ICT, human resources, visa identity and offshore services.

As a result of these reforms, staff performing operational functions in the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will move into the newly-formed ABF. A couple of examples of departmental staff who would transfer include those working in immigration compliance, enforcement and detention services.

As members can see, this consolidation under one department, where all procedural actions are undertaken by one unit and all operational by another across both the Customs and immigration portfolios, will ensure intelligence sharing is maximised. It will create greater efficiencies within that portfolio and will reduce the duplication that we currently see.

As part of this integration process, the bill will also create an Australian Border Force Commissioner as a statutory officer to command and oversee this important enforcement entity. The commissioner will report directly to the minister and will also be the Comptroller-General of Customs, which, as members would know, is the person responsible for enforcing Australia's customs law and collecting border revenue. As the minister has stated:

The commissioner will have the same standing as other heads of key national security related agencies, such as the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police or the Chief of the Australian Defence Force.

Department personnel will report to the portfolio secretary, who then reports directly to the minister.

Part of these reforms also reflects Australia's belief that our Immigration and Customs personnel should be of the highest character and integrity. A provision in the bill will therefore allow certain workers with the ABF to make and subscribe an oath or affirmation. The commissioner will also be required to make and subscribe an oath or affirmation on commencement of his or her office.

The bill will also require all Immigration and Border Protection workers to undergo an alcohol-screening test, an alcohol breath test and an alcohol blood test or a prohibited drug test on request. If an instance of misconduct is identified, reform provisions in the bill will also establish resignation and termination measures. In these instances, if the employee tenders their resignation, the secretary of the department may opt to defer the date of that resignation by up to 90 days to ensure an APS code of conduct investigation can be appropriately carried out.

Subsequent reforms that reflect previously implemented information prohibitions in other Customs and national security bills put before the House will also be made to ensure practices are uniform across these agencies' portfolios. Such prohibitions include the unauthorised making of a record or disclosure of protected information, the breach of which would carry an imprisonment period of two years.

Consequential reforms will also be enacted under the bill's cognate legislation, the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015, repealing the Customs Administration Act 1985 and amending a number of other acts, including the Customs Act 1901. These amendments are particularly important, as they will ensure associated bills that make reference to these departments are not deemed invalid. An example of a key provision in this cognate bill is in relation to the Crimes Act, which makes a number of references to officers of Customs or the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. An example of this is Customs officers' exemption from criminal liability within the Crimes Act from a Commonwealth, state or territory offence when involved in a controlled operation, which is often in regard to those operations to stop or prevent organised crime. The bill will therefore ensure all references to these officers are maintained as part of the integration process, by substituting references to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service with the consolidated Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

As I have previously highlighted to the House, I have witnessed firsthand on more than one occasion the integral role Australia's Customs and Border Protection officers play in meeting Australia's national security objectives. It was only recently that I welcomed the opportunity to join with the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon. Michaelia Cash, at Perth Airport's Customs House to see how our Customs and Border Protection officers are working to keep every Australian safe and to understand the scope of prohibited items that organised crime syndicates, in particular, try to smuggle through our borders every day. As was highlighted to me that day, from January to October last year, over 12 kilograms of methamphetamine, or 'ice', 1.5 tonnes of molasses tobacco and over 2,000 prohibited weapons, including firearms, knuckledusters, automatic knives and laser pointers, were seized from air cargo by Perth's Customs officers. It is clear that, whether it is onshore or offshore, our Customs and Immigration officers are working hard to ensure every Australian is protected from the threats that face us at our borders, but, when vulnerabilities are identified, they need to be responded to swiftly and effectively.

Like my government colleagues and our international allies, I believe this is best-practice methodology and I fully endorse and support this legislation before the House.

David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is very good have the opportunity to speak on the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015, because they are quite historic in nature, in the important organisational reforms that they will bring to the border security of our nation. We have to start from the premise of: why do we have to constantly evolve our laws and processes in immigration and border security? We have to do that because we have to competently manage our borders. That is an absolutely fundamental obligation of any sensible government. And, of course, there is a massive contrast between the success of this government in this space and the abject failure of the former government.

There are two important areas that we need to consider. One is the border security in relation to immigration and the other is the flow of goods through Customs. They are interrelated areas, and this legislation will enable a more coordinated approach in confronting both of them. But what we certainly do not want to do and must never do is revert to the days of the previous Labor government, when both of these areas were managed with a complete lack of competence. The litany of disasters in border security is well known, but it is important to never forget just how bad those disasters were. There is an economic cost, there is a very real human cost and there is also a cost in a loss of confidence of the Australian people in the security of our borders, and that is something which must be avoided, because that can then lead to a loss of confidence in our immigration policies more generally.

The budget blow-out under the previous Labor government in the area of immigration control was $11 billion. There are about nine million households in Australia. If you take that $11 billion and you apply that across nine million households, it is about $1,300 per household. It is useful to reflect and to say, 'If the government had managed the borders effectively and therefore had not had a budget blow-out of $11 billion, what might that money, the $1,300 per household, have been spent on?' That could have been provided in tax relief to families. That could have been invested in important infrastructure like WestConnex, which is so important to my electorate of Banks. There are a whole range of things that could have been done with that money, but that was not possible because $11 billion was frittered away in this extraordinarily inept prosecution of border security.

The remarkable facet of this is that, when the previous government came into power, the borders were under control. The borders were secure. Things were working very well. So there was in fact no need to do to anything. It was not a really difficult organisational or intellectual challenge. All that the previous government had to do was nothing—simply continue with successful policies of the Howard government. Of course, what they decided was that these policies, which were working extremely well, had to be completely junked and done away with. In the process, they sent a very clear message to people smugglers that Australia was open once again.

There was an enormous human cost, of course, because we saw 50,000 people come to our shores. Tragically, we saw more than 1,000 people drown at sea. As the member for Swan touched on so eloquently a few moments ago, we saw a situation where people who were waiting in refugee camps in some of the most troubled places on earth were disadvantaged by this policy. The complementary protection visa program, a program which existed to assist people who were following the right process in trying to get into Australia, was pretty much done away with under the previous government because the flow of arrivals at the borders was so great that there were no spaces left for those people who were waiting to get a complementary protection visa in Australia. The number of those people who were allowed in under the previous government was down to about 500 per year. Under this government, because of the effective border security, the number of places under the complementary protection visa program has been increased to about 5,000 per year. That is good news because that is helping people who are in some of the most difficult situations on this planet and in search of a better life in Australia.

You would think that there could be no dispute about the success of this government's policies in this space. We have gone from a massive flow of unlawful arrivals to one boat in the last 12 months and, of course, none at all for many months—just an extraordinary turnaround. We did see in the last week or so that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition was very critical of the policy of turning boats around, but it is very clear that that policy has succeeded amongst a broad range of measures taken by both of our ministers for immigration and border protection. The policy of turning around boats clearly has played an important role in helping to secure the borders. One cannot ignore that. To suggest that that policy has failed or to suggest that that policy would not be continued with under the opposition is something that should give all Australians pause because, in telegraphing a problem with the policy of turning boats around, the Labor Party is once again telegraphing a weakness on border security, and that is something that should never be tolerated.

It was not only in the area of immigration that we saw such terrible problems under the previous government; it was also in customs. Customs is very important because, of course, we want to control the flow of goods into our nation. We want to know what is arriving, when it is arriving and under what circumstances it is arriving. We do not want illegal contraband; we do not want guns being run into our country; we do not want drugs entering our country. As a consequence, we need to have a strong hand on the wheel in the area of customs, but we saw many failures in the area of customs under the previous government. The previous government had an immense fondness for spending money and just sort of threw it around all over the place, but one of the very few places where they actually showed financial restraint, ironically, was in the customs security of Australia, where they reduced the amount of money that we were spending on customs, reduced the number of people working on customs and materially reduced the amount of goods that were being screened. This is a pretty scary statistic. Under the Labor government, we reached a situation where 0.5 per cent of sea cargo was physically examined. Basically, there was a one in 200 chance of sea cargo being examined. That sends a pretty clear message to people who would do us ill: go for it, because there is a very low chance of that sea cargo being examined. Two per cent of air cargo was examined, so there was a one in 50 chance of it being examined. And the list goes on. So they were spending money all over the place except in customs, where they cut funds, and a consequence of that was a reduction in the number of goods being screened.

In my own area of southern Sydney, just across the Georges River in the electorate of Cook, back in 2012 we saw a very concerning incident at the Sylvania Waters post office, with the discovery of various contraband. As the New South Wales police commissioner, Andrew Scipione, said at the time, this is not just a border security issue; it is a national security issue. We have to be super vigilant in protecting our borders from unlawful maritime arrivals but also from the unlawful arrival of goods. We need to ensure that the boats stop, which we have, and we also need to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, the flow of illegal goods stops as well.

That is where this bill comes in. This is a very, very comprehensive and thoughtful response to the area of border coordination. Historically, you have a customs service and an immigration department. There are areas where they overlap and areas where they integrate, but to a large extent they are somewhat separate. As any good executive would tell you, if you have two groups of people doing somewhat different and somewhat interrelated things, there is the potential for things to slip through the cracks and the potential for things to go wrong. So this government is creating a unified and clear-cut organisational structure under the leadership of an Australian Border Force Commissioner. That Border Force Commissioner will have broad responsibility for everything that occurs at our borders, be it related to immigration or to customs issues. It will also have the responsibility as Comptroller-General of Customs.

What this means is instead of having a somewhat disconnected structure, we have a clear operational structure with the new commissioner sitting at the top for all matters related to Australia's borders, because it does not make sense to have one organisation managing issues relating to the flow of goods and another relating to the flow of people. That means a range of roles within these various departmental areas will be moved around and will be structured under the organisational leadership of the Border Force Commissioner. In taking that decision on operational grounds to more logically structure these areas, we also generate savings to the budget because it removes current examples of duplication and inefficiency and so on in the system and has a much more orderly structure that will be in place. Those savings are quite significant—$180 million over the forward estimates and it is estimated as much as $100 million per year after that.

In bringing this force together, another thing that the government is doing is sending a very clear message to people who work within the border force, to the broader law enforcement community and to the broader Australian community that the people in our border force are people who need to be of the highest integrity. They are professional officers who are highly trained and are required to uphold the very high standards. That is entirely appropriate. We would expect nothing less.

There are some important changes in the legislation requiring certain officers to take an oath of office, really underscoring the seriousness of this area. That happens in other areas of law enforcement. It is entirely appropriate that it happens here as well. It also gives the new Australian Border Force Commissioner the power to require mandatory reporting of any serious incidents of misconduct or criminal activity. Again, as part of this focus on operational professionalism within the border force, it is absolutely critical that we have people of the very highest integrity, of the highest standards, and it is entirely appropriate that, should people breach those standards, there are serious consequences. Particularly in the area of customs, it goes without saying that there are people out there both in this nation and overseas who would seek to do ill to our community—to bring in drugs, to bring in guns and other illegal material. So we have to have at our borders the absolute best and brightest to ensure that that is stopped as much as is humanly possible, and integrity goes with that absolutely.

We have learned from all of the failures of the previous Labor government. You could do an entire university course just based on the failures of the previous Labor government in this area.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It would be a six year course!

David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It would probably be a four or five year course. There are a lot of failures here, but we have learned from them.

Mr Craig Kelly interjecting—

We have learned from those failures, and under the leadership of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, we will bring together Customs and the immigration department at the border to secure our border, to ensure Customs is of the best possible quality, and to manage the borders in a way the Australian people would expect and deserve.

Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015, which, together, continue to build upon this government's commitment to a safer and more secure Australia.

Every day the members of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service work to protect Australia and our citizens from the external threats of those who seek to do us harm.

Australia is a rich, diverse nation that has prospered from generations of successful migration. We welcome with open arms those who seek to join our great nation and contribute positively towards a stronger Australia.

We are a nation dependent upon immigration and trade. Our neighbours look to us to supply the building blocks of their economies. Our borders are a gateway for goods and services which enables the success of Australian businesses big and small. Australia's border controls also ensure a prosperous and cohesive society. Over time we have built a rich and diverse culture which thrives from the freedoms and responsibilities of Australian citizenship.

In times of growing global unrest, an ever increasing threat of terrorism, and the emergence of home grown lone wolves, I thank the hardworking dedicated men and women of our border agencies for protecting and keeping our communities safe. This government is absolutely determined to ensure our border agencies are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to keep our great nation safe.

Measures outlined in these bills continue to build upon this government's commitment to a stronger and more secure Australia. I have spoken on numerous occasions in parliament to support necessary measures to strengthen our borders and enhance national security.

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Psychoactive Substances and Other Measures Bill) 2014, and the Australian Citizenship and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014, have contributed to stronger borders. Through the Australian Citizenship and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014, we have tightened eligibility for Australian citizenship and introduced tough measures to address the threat of Australians who seek to participate in foreign conflicts.

Australian citizenship is one of the greatest gifts our citizens possess. Australian citizenship represents one of the greatest freedoms in the world and, along with it, the most important of responsibilities. Therefore, it is a fundamental requirement that those who are granted Australian citizenship uphold our democratic values and beliefs, obey our laws and respect our institutions. This is the expectation of the government and the broader community and it is non-negotiable. The gift of Australian citizenship should never be abused or taken for granted.

I have also spoken in support of the government's decision to introduce offences into the criminal code to ban the importation of substances, based on their psychoactive effect, when they are presented as alternatives to illicit drugs.

The government also enhanced our nation's security by strengthening the powers available to law enforcement agencies in relation to firearm offences. The impact of the illicit firearm market is directly related to the number of illegal firearm entries across our borders entering our community. There is no denying that these firearms are being accessed and used by groups and individuals to commit serious and violent crimes—tragically, in some circumstances, resulting in death.

Building upon this legislation, this bill continues to strengthen our national security by establishing the Australian Border Force. On 9 May 2014 the government announced fundamental reform of Australia's border protection arrangements. It was determined that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, be amalgamated into a single department: the Australian Border Force. The Australian Border Force will serve as a single front-line operational border control and enforcement entity. This entity will be responsible for enforcing customs and immigration laws, and protecting Australia's borders.

This decision builds upon our success in securing Australia's borders from the people-smuggling trade through Operation Sovereign Borders. We said we would stop the boats and we have stopped the boats. The former government presided over the greatest breach of Australia's borders since World War II. Under Labor's watch, more than 51,000 illegal maritime arrivals, including 8,400 children, reached Australia. Two thousand children were placed in detention and more than 1,200 lives that we know of were lost at sea. The most humane thing we can do as a nation is to stop men, women and children from boarding unseaworthy boats and making a perilous trek across the seas based on false hope peddled by people smugglers. Not only have we stopped the boats; we are also getting children out of detention.

Our commitment to securing our borders does not stop with these successes. The Hon. Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, stated in his second reading speech:

Maintaining our borders as a secure platform for legitimate trade, travel and migration is a core responsibility of the Australian government and this is a responsibility we take very seriously.

The establishment of the Border Force streamlines and focuses our border protection resources, and bolsters front-line services.

This legislation also establishes the role of the Australian Border Force Commissioner, who will oversee the operations of the Australian Border Force and will be responsible directly to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection on all operational matters relating to the functions of the force. The commissioner, their department and staff will be able to exercise powers under the Customs Act 1901, the Migration Act 1958, the Maritime Powers Act 2013 and other Commonwealth laws in order to enforce customs and immigration laws and protect Australia's borders. The commissioner will also have a dual role as the Comptroller-General of Customs, with responsibility for enforcement of customs law and collection of border related revenue. The commissioner will be Australia's most senior border law enforcement officer and will share the same standing as other heads of key national security related agencies, such as the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police and the Chief of the Australian Defence Force.

Resources for the Australian Border Force will be drawn from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, thereby avoiding unnecessary duplication. This will bolster the front-line services delivered by the department. The Australian Border Force will bring together the people, capability and systems of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to protect our borders and facilitate the lawful passage of people and goods.

This legislation also enables the full integration of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection into a single Commonwealth department. The Australian Border Force will unite staff working in immigration compliance, enforcement, detention services and other operational functions. This will see staff working on the front line, including at our airports and seaports, joining with those who are involved in detection, investigations, compliance and enforcement to address the issues of illicit goods and illegal visitors.

The Australian Border Force will also include staff who serve beyond Australia's borders. This includes those working in operational roles with our regional partners to secure Australia's maritime zone, preventing and deterring illegal arrivals and combating the movement of prohibited goods. Bringing together Immigration and Customs will deliver an improved capability that is focused on border policies, strategy and operations in an integrated and holistic way. In addition, the Australian Border Force will work in close collaboration with national security, defence, law enforcement and intelligence partners domestically and abroad to deliver a secure border.

This legislation will also ensure a professional and disciplined workforce. This is essential to ensure that Australians have confidence in Australia's Immigration, Customs and border agency's personnel. Last year I was privileged to join with the men and women of the Australian Defence Force and the Customs and Border Protection Service to participate in Operation Resolute. The program provided me with a unique opportunity to obtain a practical understanding of the workings of the military, and the Customs and Border Protection Service, in the implementation of policies such as Operation Sovereign Borders. Having observed and been part of Operation Resolute, I must say I am in awe of the professionalism, commitment and dedication of the men and women tasked with protecting our borders. I thank them, and I am sure this gratitude is shared by all members of this parliament who were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to participate in the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program.

This legislation extends this high level of professionalism to the staff of the Australian Border Force. This bill specifically provides that certain Immigration and Border Protection employees in the Australian Border Force be requested to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation. This is similar to the concept of sworn officers in the Australian Federal Police and reflects the high standard of professionalism expected of the Australian Border Force officers. In addition, the commissioner will also be required to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation.

The minister has also outlined that this bill will provide power to the secretary of the department and to the commissioner to provide written directions in connection with the administration and control of the department and the Australian Border Force respectively, and the performance of functions or exercise of powers. This may be in relation to the setting of essential qualifications for the performance of duties, the mandatory reporting of serious misconduct or criminal activity and the implementation of the professional integrity system for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. This government supports high standards of operational effectiveness and professional integrity throughout the department.

During his second reading speech the minister outlined that this bill will enable all Department of Immigration and Border Protection employees to undergo an alcohol-screening test, an alcohol breath test, an alcohol blood test or a prohibited drug test. The primary focus of these tests will be on operational and high-risk areas. However, any departmental employee may be selected randomly for testing.

It is also worth noting that the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Crime Commission and the Australian Custom and Border Protection Service all apply similar drug and alcohol testing arrangements currently. The Australian Defence Force also operates a Prohibited Substance Testing Program. This legislation will also establish resignation and termination provisions for circumstances involving serious misconduct. These provisions will further strengthen the integrity of the Australian Border Force. Employees suspected of serious misconduct, such as corruption, a serious abuse of power, a serious dereliction of duty or any other serious, reprehensible act of behaviour, will be subject to a code-of-conduct investigation.

In addition to investigation under the Public Service Act 1999, an employee found guilty of serious misconduct and subsequently terminated may be excluded from a review under unfair dismissal provisions at the request of the commissioner. Our message is clear to those who are given the privilege of serving in the Australian Border Force: serious misconduct will not be tolerated.

As I mentioned previously, I have every confidence in our men and women who are on the front line protecting this nation. While these provisions will ensure inappropriate behaviour is treated appropriately, I have confidence that the vast majority of employees under the administration of the Australian Border Force will do the right thing and not be subject to such dismissal.

This legislation also seeks to amend the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to provide additional assurance to ABF workers undertaking high-risk activities related to Australia's national security or defence. This legislation ensures that Australia continues to benefit from an open economy that welcomes trade, and from a vibrant society that welcomes migrant from around the world. We will continue to build and strengthen our position as the world's most successful immigration nation, while protecting our citizens from those who do the wrong thing.

Since this government's election 18 months ago we have set about restoring integrity and public confidence in immigration and border protection. We have done so on the overwhelming demand of the Australian people to ensure we retain sovereignty over our borders and hold the tightest possible control and grip on national security. This government has successfully secured our border from people smugglers and illegal boat arrivals. By delivering on our commitment to secure our borders, we are witnessing safer communities and a more cohesive society.

As a nation and as a parliament we face uncertain times as global security challenges threaten to impact our great nation. We remain conscious of the threats of extremists who seek to do us harm under the veil of religion. It is important that we are vigilant in our resolve to defeat these enemies. Australia's citizens can be assured that they are safer as a result of this government's achievements in relation to securing our borders and strengthening our national security. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said to this parliament, 'Protecting our people is the first duty of government. This government will do whatever is possible to keep people safe.'

The establishment of the Australian Border Force will keep this great country and our citizens safe. I commend this bill to the House.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are great motivations for foreign nationals to seek to enter Australia's borders, chief among them being financial. Australia's GDP per capita, as reported by the World Bank in 2013, amounted to US$67,468 in nominal terms. The GDP per capita in Australia is equivalent to 297 percent of the world's average. Australians generally have a standard of living equivalent to three times higher than the world's average, making our nation a very attractive destination. That is why we need to protect our borders: to safeguard the living standards of Australian citizens.

I support the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015, which repeals the Customs Administration Act 1985 and amends a number of other Commonwealth acts, including the Customs Act 1901, and the related bill.

The bill essentially provides for the integration of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection with the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service into a single department, and the establishment of the Australian Border Force. The Australian Border Force is designed to be a front line operational border control and enforcement entity that is part of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The proposed new arrangements are due to commence operation on 1 July 2015.

As a result of this bill, there will be a number of changes to organisational arrangements and statutory roles within the department. Most notably, the current Australian Customs and Border Protection Service will be abolished as a statutory agency when the new act commences. The statutory office of the Australian Border Force Commissioner will be created, deriving his or her official powers and functions from a number of other Commonwealth acts, including the Customs Act 1901, the Migration Act 1958 and the Maritime Powers Act 2013. The ABF commissioner will have a dual role as Comptroller-General of Customs, with responsibility for the administration and enforcement of the Customs Act 1901, including collection of border related revenue.

It is envisaged that in enforcing Customs, immigration and maritime security laws, the Australian Border Force will work in close cooperation with Commonwealth, state, territory and international law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Federal Police.

Integrating the currently separate functions of immigration and Customs into one entity is expected to generate $180 million in operating efficiencies over the forward estimates, yielding future projected savings of approximately $100 million annually. By removing unnecessary duplication of staff and responsibilities, the deployment of a greater proportion of resources into the front line can be achieved. The consolidation of human resources, organisational systems and capability is designed to promote synergy based on sound principles, strategies and operations in an integrated way. This management model is based on similar best practices in the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Home Office in the United Kingdom with key elements adapted and implemented to suit Australian conditions.

This bill also contains consequential amendments to reflect new organisational arrangements and a professional integrity framework. Provisions in the bill extend the jurisdiction of the Australian law enforcement Integrity Commissioner to enable the investigation of any allegations of law enforcement corruption within the department.

The magnitude of the task of monitoring our borders on a vast geographical scale defies comprehension. Australia's extensive economic exclusion zone covers 8.1 million square kilometres. We have a sparsely populated continent with a significant number of remote towns with only basic port and airport facilities, without the advanced security found in capital cities. It is in this context that the logistics of monitoring our borders and controlling the international flow of passengers and goods represents a massive undertaking for Australian Customs and Border Protection agencies. The challenges faced by our Customs and Border Protection agencies is compounded by the vastness of the Australian continent, covering an area of more than 7.6 million square kilometres, with a total coastline length of 35,876 kilometres, an additional 23,859 kilometres of island coastlines and some 758 remote estuaries around the country at which vessels may land.

To provide some context of the scale of operations of Australian Customs, Australian Customs have, in the seven months to 31 January 2015 in the current financial year, processed around 23.1 million passengers through Australian airports; processed over 837,000 passengers arriving at or departing from Australian ports; inspected over 1.3 million air cargo consignments; inspected over 69,000 sea container units of 20 foot equivalent; and inspected more than 38 million international mail items. This represents a significant workload.

The anticipated future increase in the flow of passengers and goods across international borders has been brought about by increased international trade with emerging economies in our region facilitated by free trade agreements with Japan, Korea and China. Trade is projected to continue expanding as a free trade agreement is expected to be reached with India. As Australia develops stronger economic partnerships with the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN—including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam—our Customs service must be adequately prepared and resourced to cope with future increased demands at all entry points to Australia. By improving our border protection capabilities to intercept contraband and the smuggling of illegal cargo, such as drugs, weapons and food stuffs subject to quarantine, we are able to combat international crime, preserve the biosecurity of our agricultural sector and promote greater national security. The proposed bill proposes a range of initiatives to boost our law enforcement and national security capability to combat transnational organised crime syndicates seeking to infiltrate the Australian border.

I cite three recent cases of successful Customs interceptions as examples of the growing threat of drug smuggling. On 19 November 2014, the second largest drugs seizure in Australian history occurred, with 2.8 tonnes of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA—commonly known as ecstasy—and other methamphetamines seized, with an estimated street value of approximately $1.5 billion, shipped from Hamburg in Germany. Similarly, in an operation which began on 8 February 2015, Australian Federal Police and Australian Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamines with an estimated street value of approximately $65 million in a container from China declared to contain children's toys. And, at the beginning March 2015, earlier this month, six individuals were arrested and 230 kilograms of liquid methamphetamines, together with a further 250 kilograms of cocaine, was seized in two countries as a result of a major joint agency investigation into an international organised crime syndicate based in Bogota in Colombia.

Australia is an attractive destination for organised criminals and international fugitives due to our comparatively lenient judicial system. Sentences for committing serious crimes in other countries are typically much more severe than in Australia, often attracting longer terms of imprisonment and in some cases capital punishment. A report into organised crime by the Australian Crime Commission released in 2013 conservatively estimates that organised crime costs Australia $15 billion annually.

I refer to a report titled Australia's migration trends 2012-13, published by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Statistics contained within the report indicate that non-compliance with visa conditions is a serious problem for the Australian Government and is part of a growing trend which appears to be increasing in frequency. In 2012-13 there were 13,486 compliance related departures, commonly known as deportations, from Australia. The department facilitated the departure of people, who had no entitlement to remain in Australia, through assisted voluntary returns, monitored departures and removal under section 198 of the Migration Act 1958. Circumstances included people who had overstayed their visas; persons who were refused a further visa or had their visa cancelled, including those whose visas were cancelled on the basis of their criminal conduct; and the crews of vessels caught illegally fishing in Australian waters.

As at 30 June 2013, it was estimated that approximately 62,700 people were in Australia unlawfully following the expiration or cancellation of their visa. These persons are classed as unlawful noncitizens and remain at large in the community, in many cases working illegally, not paying income taxes and involved in organised crime syndicates.

Furthermore, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection had justifiable cause to cancel 37,926 visas in the 2012-13 year. The government has a responsibility to the Australian community to protect our national borders and ensure the orderly assessment and screening of entrants to Australia to ensure that only authorised persons are permitted to enter our country. Prospective entrants must undergo background checks of their health, police clearance, character and identity before being allowed to enter Australian ports and airports. The cost to the Australian taxpayer, law enforcement and the justice system is enormous when foreign nationals commit offences on the scale outlined earlier with 37,926 visa cancellations and 13,486 deportations in 2012-13. The government is being justifiably cautious and careful about who is permitted to enter and stay in Australia.

For the reasons outlined, it is important for the government to protect the Australian border and maintain effective control over the movements of authorised persons and goods. As former Prime Minister John Howard famously said in 2001:

We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.

Maintaining effective control over our borders is essential for national security and protecting the living standards of Australian citizens. There is little point in having a planned migration program and stringent laws regulating goods, narcotics, weapons and quarantine if we cannot maintain the integrity of our borders from illegal entry.

In summary, this bill proposes a range of measures designed to facilitate the work of our border protection personnel in their detection, investigation, compliance and enforcement operations in relation to goods and persons entering Australian territory. This bill also facilitates operational cooperation with regional partners beyond our borders and in Australia's maritime zone to prevent illegal arrivals of persons and smuggling of prohibited goods. The integrated approach has proved a success with Operation Sovereign Borders in stopping the people smuggling trade.

I commend the bill to the House.

Matt Williams (Hindmarsh, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to contribute to the debate on the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015, which are part of a full suite of measures in line with the coalition government's commitment to strong border protection. Maintaining our borders as a secure platform for legitimate trade, travel and migration is a core responsibility of the Commonwealth government. We have just heard from my colleague the member for Moore, who outlined many pieces of evidence of the increase in the flow of goods arising from the FTAs we have just recently signed as well as from our other trade activities. The member for Moore also gave some great examples of Customs interceptions. These developments are a major part of the reason why these bills are so important.

In the next four years the volume of travellers and goods crossing our border is projected to increase significantly against a backdrop of more complex cargo supply chains and passenger routes, and measures such as this bill position our nation to confront the challenges posed by increased border interactions. The establishment of the Australian Border Force ensures Australia has the capability at the border to manage this growth effectively and efficiently.

The cornerstone of the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 is the creation of an operational border control and enforcement entity. The bill establishes the statutory office of the Australian Border Force Commissioner, who will command the Australian Border Force as a new front-line operational border control and enforcement entity within the Department of Immigration and Border Protection that will enforce customs and immigration laws and protect Australia's borders.

The Australian Border Force is a new national security agency combining customs and immigration officers and will oversee Australia's borders as part of our sweeping new changes to how Australia's borders are managed. The Australian Border Force will begin operating in July and will act as the nation's single front-line enforcement agency. They will include airport and port staff and immigration detention centre personnel with expanded powers to use force, and officers will investigate illicit goods and illegal visitors. It will also include overseas based officers working with regional neighbours to secure Australia's maritime zone and prevent and deter illegal arrivals and the movement of prohibited goods, as we have just heard from the member for Moore.

I have had the opportunity to visit the Customs operations at Adelaide Airport in my electorate of Hindmarsh. I joined the former Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon. Scott Morrison, and met with a number of staff who will now become members of the Australian Border Force. These people do a terrific job and play an important role in keeping Australia's borders safe.

The bill also enables the full integration of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection into a single department of state. By doing this we are removing unnecessary duplication and enabling the deployment of a greater proportion of resources into the front line—something always very important for the efficient delivery of government services. The consolidation of the departments of immigration and customs and the establishment of the ABF is a once-in-a-generation reform which is expected to generate $180 million in efficiencies over the forward estimates and increase to $100 million each year after that. The combined agency will result in hundreds of millions of dollars in savings, but I must make it clear: this is a reform measure, not a savings measure.

I would like to congratulate the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon. Peter Dutton, and the former minister, the Hon. Scott Morrison, for their hard work and commitment to this very important portfolio that the government is having great success in.

Since coming to government we have acted swiftly and precisely to stop the boats, which is saving lives at sea. Children are no longer being put in detention centres. This former government's failed policies caused those problems. In addition to this, the collapse in illegal maritime arrivals is saving taxpayers billions of dollars. Those are some great outcomes on all fronts.

However, there is still the threat that boats and illegal people smugglers will come again. The member for Sydney recently told Sky News that Labor 'certainly have been opposed to turn-backs'. Clearly Labor will revert back to the failed policies which would allow the boats to start again, and would fill our detention centres with children once more. They left a legacy of 50,000 people; 800 boats that arrived on their watch. More than 8,000 children arrived illegally by boat under the Labor government, leading to record numbers of children in detention. These facts cannot be forgotten.

In July 2013 under Labor, at its peak there were close to 2,000 children held in detention. The reality is that, when Labor came to office in 2007, there were no children in detention, because the Howard government policy of stopping the boats succeeded. Labor changed the policy; the boats started coming; people were drowning at sea; and children were in detention. The way to stop children entering detention and to stop deaths at sea is to stop the boats, and that is exactly what we are doing. The coalition government does not want to see children on boats. It does not want to see children in detention or dying at sea, and that is why we have stopped the boats and are implementing strong measures to protect our borders and reduce the number of children held in detention.

What we as a government are doing is working hard and implementing important measures to restore confidence in our migration programs, to support a strong economy by serving as a global gateway for trade, enabling business and the operation of free markets through the FTAs, and supporting strong national security by intercepting prohibited goods and the people who seek to harm us. This bill deserves support from all parties, and I commend the bill to the House.

Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to give my support to the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015. These bills, as we have heard from people on this side, are an important step forward in the coalition's plan to protect Australia's borders. This is particularly important to my electorate of Solomon, as we bore the brunt of boat arrivals due to the previous Labor government's failed border protection policies. During the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era, the boats flowed in as Labor opened the flood gates to the people smugglers.

As the number of boats surged to over 800, carrying over 50,000 people, Territorians were forced to deal with Labor's complete and utter loss of control of our borders. As Labor's failure spiralled further, my electorate and its surrounding areas ended up with five immigration detention centres; putting a strain on my community's support services. As I have said in this place many times, the former Labor government was more interested in delivering detention beds than they were in delivering hospital beds. The ambulance services in my electorate were strained. The hospitals in my electorate were strained. Police services were strained. The fire services were strained. The tourism industry was definitely strained. They were all strained from a bad Labor policy which took advantage of Territorians' goodwill. Territorians have always welcomed people from a diversity of backgrounds. We have one of the most multicultural communities in Australia and we love it.

As I said before, things were so out of control that in my electorate the Department of Immigration rented a whole CBD hotel, converting it into a temporary immigration detention centre. Our Navy patrol fleet in the Top End was stretched to the brink, having to escort a constant stream of Indonesian fishing boats and their human cargo to Christmas Island.

With the changing of government, we have stopped the boats and are now in the fifth consecutive month of no successful boat arrivals. This is what good policy looks like; not the flood-gate approach that was assembled by those opposite. And still, their response to this problem was to strip $700 million from our border protection agencies, at a time when this money was needed most, after causing an $11.6 million blow-out in border protection costs.

Operation Sovereign Borders has meant that people are no longer dying at sea, unlike under Labor, who allowed at least 1,200 people. This stopping of boat arrivals through Operation Sovereign Borders has also meant savings for taxpayers through detention centres closing down. The people smugglers are now going out of business. And that is something I am really pleased about. Now it is time for the coalition to move forward and to look to the future.

With a projected growth over the period of 2013-14 to 2017-18, air cargo consignments are estimated to rise by 80 per cent, sea cargo by 20 per cent and international travel by 25 per cent. On top of this, cargo supply chains and international travel routes are set to become more complex over time. Not only is travel and trade growing at an exponential rate but we are tackling an ever-increasing threat to Australian communities posed by serious and organised crime.

While our border protection agencies are doing an exceptional job, the current operations will not be sustainable for protecting our borders beyond 2020. Clearly, something has to be done and the coalition's next step in ensuring safer waters and safer borders is the Australian Border Force, an establishment under the already consolidated border protection services which aims to give a sustainable future to border security as the growth of the management of our borders increases. This streamlined approach being put forward by the coalition ensures the future of border protection and continues to deliver on the promise we made to the people of Australia before the 2013 election. The changes made through the establishment of the Australian Border Force will ensure the correct balance between maintaining the integrity of Australia's borders and fostering legitimate trade and travel movements to and from the country.

Further, these changes will bring efficiencies and cost advantages through the coordination of investments in securing Australia's borders, saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. It is expected that, over the forward estimates, the Australian Border Force will generate $100 million in savings. These savings will be able to be reinvested in helping to create an intelligence led, mobile, technology enabled force—the Australian Border Force —operating under the Strategic Border Command. This will help to facilitate trade and tourism while, at the same time, keeping importers, exporters, tourists and Australians safe from those who would do us harm.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service have already been amalgamated into a single consolidated Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Under this department we will establish the Australian Border Force. The drawing together of the two existing agencies' functions will give the Australian Border Force the ability to undertake border operations, conduct investigations, and ensure compliance and enforcement in relation to illicit goods and illegal visitors while also managing detention facilities and removal activities. This consolidation will ensure stronger borders, increase national security and provide a much needed boost to Australia's economy.

The Australian Border Force will be the front line of our border security and most visible to the Australian public and international travellers. This task force will be unified and multidisciplinary and most visible at airports, seaports and remote regional and international locations. It will provide and perform deterrence, compliance and enforcement—and will conduct investigations—across the areas of customs and immigration, detention, removal of goods and people entering and leaving Australia illegally, offshore processing, return-to-community programs and status resolution. All of this is with the aim of protecting and securing our borders.

The Australian Border Force will also be responsible for the tactical functions of all customs and immigration border operations and control. This border control function within the task force will include a Strategic Border Command, looking after operations on land, and a National Border Targeting Centre, looking after maritime operations. There will be a front-line immigration border function, remote area patrols and a national uniformed enforcement response effort.

The Australian Border Force will work with a range of Commonwealth, state, territory and international law enforcement and intelligence agencies in order to perform these critical functions. These will include such agencies as the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Federal Police. A portfolio secretary will have overall management responsibility for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection's operations and missions. A commissioner, who will report directly to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection on national border operations, will command the Australian Border Force and will be appointed by the Governor-General. The appointed Australian Border Force Commissioner will have the responsibility to enforce customs law and collection of border related revenue. The commissioner and the APS employees in the Australian Border Force will be able to exercise powers under the Customs Act 1901, the Migration Act 1958, the Maritime Powers Act 2013 and other Commonwealth laws. An Australian Border Force College will also be developed to provide foundational and specialised training for those within the Australian Border Force organisation, as well as for external agencies. The policy, legislative and strategic roles of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will establish a framework within which the Australian Border Force will operate, with corporate functions to be integrated.

These bills ensure the highest standards of integrity and professionalism through the introduction of new employment, integrity and information protection requirements for employees within the Australian Border Force. Through a professional integrity framework that has already been established in the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the Australian Border Force will be required to successfully complete an organisational suitability assessment and to report serious misconduct and corruption. These measures will ensure that the employees of the Australian Border Force work within the law, recognising that these are jobs that require the utmost integrity and professionalism. Moreover, these bills provide safeguards to ensure a safe working environment. Employees may be required to undergo breath or blood tests for alcohol, or urine or blood tests for prohibited drugs. The emphasis here will be on employees who are in high-risk areas. The aim is to strengthen integrity within the organisation and to ensure a safe working environment. These testing measures are in line with current policy and practice within the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Australian Defence Force.

Under the provisions of these bills, serious misconduct will not be tolerated. Where serious misconduct is suspected, the secretary of the department or the Australian Border Force Commissioner will be able to defer the date of resignation of an employee by up to 90 days—to give the department the time required to investigate any suspected breach under the APS code of conduct. If the employee is proven to be in breach, such as in the case of corruption or a serious abuse of power, a termination of employment sanction will be imposed. This type of termination under the Public Service Act 1999 would result in the ability for the secretary or the Australian Border Force Commissioner to make a serious misconduct declaration, excluding any unfair dismissal review of termination of employment under the Fair Work Act 2009. Part of these bills also establishes information protection that prohibits any unauthorised disclosure of protected information. Any breach of this will be punishable by up to two years of imprisonment.

This Australian Border Force will provide a multidisciplinary service and a single entry point for traders and travellers, with changes to be implemented in a phased approach to allow for detailed planning and transition, not a rushed and botched job like that of the previous Labor government. These bills will help continue the good work and policies that the coalition government has been achieving and implementing. We have a plan and we made a promise to the Australian people to fix Labor's chaotic mess that it left behind after dismantling the very successful Howard government's border protection policies. We are sticking to that plan and we will continue to provide Australia with safer waters and safer borders. I would like to put on record my thanks to the current Minister for Border Protection and Immigration, Minister Peter Dutton, and to the former minister, Scott Morrison, for their very good work in this area. I commend the bills to the House.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian border is a strategic national asset. It is not an asset to be taken for granted by any government. The reason that this bill, the Australian Border Force Bill 2015, is before the House is to establish the role of the Australian Border Force Commissioner, to enable the operation of the Australian Border Force and to introduce provisions to support the management of a professional and disciplined workforce that exercises its powers and functions with the highest standards of integrity. The Australian Border Force will be a single integrated front-line operational border entity within the department and will be charged with enforcing customs and immigration laws, protecting Australia's borders and improving our national security

The coalition has a very strong and historic record of protecting Australia's borders—the 37,000 kilometres of coastline, the eight major international airports, the more than 60 international seaports and the 10 million square kilometres of ocean in our offshore exclusive economic zone. In fact, border protection is one of the core reasons that I am very proud to be a member of the coalition. We are absolutely committed to protecting Australia's borders. The Australian people know that they can have confidence and certainty that, whenever there is a coalition government, border protection will be a priority. Just look at our history—it is one of our core beliefs—and look at the resolve and success of the whole-of-government approach to Operation Sovereign Borders. Compare those efforts, our efforts, to the absolute chaos of the Labor years. It was just a dreadful debacle. Labor made an absolute mockery of the responsibility that a government has of border protection in this country. It was an abrogation of the government's responsibility.

When I was first elected in 2007, I watched with horror as Labor dismantled the Howard government's very strong and successful border policies. They abandoned offshore processing and automatic detention—and didn't the people smugglers just rub their hands together in anticipation of profits; it was a green light—61 days before the first boat arrived under Minister Evans, and the people smugglers made millions out of the 50,000 people who paid them to come to Australia under Labor's open border policy. It was a licence to print money for the people smugglers. We saw 800 boats and thousands of children. What a dreadful risk those children took, often in leaky, unseaworthy boats provided by those same people smugglers, especially when we know that, tragically, at least 1,200 people died at sea.

As, unfortunately, with most key policy areas, Labor created a very serious problem and an unmitigated mess for the coalition government to deal with. But the Australian people expected us to deal with the problem and knew that we had the policies and the genuine resolve to do exactly that. They also know that we have the policies and resolve to deal with what is a case load of problems left by Labor. We have reduced the number of children in detention from 2,000 to closer to 100—and what a turnaround that has been. All of us can be proud of the fact that we have stopped the boats and stopped people drowning at sea. It is a core government responsibility. The government has taken back control of our borders from people smugglers and destroyed their very lucrative business model.

I was really concerned, genuinely concerned, and I think the people smugglers would be again rubbing their hands together, to hear the Deputy Leader of the Opposition confirming that Labor will actually put them back into business whenever there is a Labor government in this country. I wonder what the Defence Force men and women who gave their lives protecting Australia's people and our borders would think of that abrogation of responsibly by a government--outsourcing our borders to people smugglers. I think of people like my mother's husband, who was killed in World War II, in New Guinea. He was one of the oldest Western Australians to enlist, and he was desperately worried about Australia's borders and about people who will do Australia harm, and they can come in all forms. That is why he volunteered for redeployment to New Guinea. I have spoken to many service men and women, particularly throughout the parliamentary program, and I know that they feel very strongly about this issue of border protection.

The Australian Border Force Commissioner, a statutory officer, will have control of the operations of the Australian Border Force and will be directly accountable to the minister in relation to those operations. The Australian Border Force Commissioner will have a dual role as Comptroller-General of Customs, with responsibility for enforcement of customs laws, collection of border related revenue, enforcing customs and immigration laws and protecting Australia's borders—particularly, as I said, from those who seek to do harm to Australians, in whatever form that is.

Immigration and Border Protection workers will make decisions that affect the safety, rights and freedoms of people as well as facilitate legitimate trade, commerce and travel in Australia. They will hold a privileged place at the border and in the community, with access to secure environments and law enforcement databases. They will also exercise significant powers under the Customs Act 1901 and other Commonwealth law, such as detention, arrest, boarding a vessel, entry, search, questioning, seizure, use of force and removal from Australia. The community and government trust Immigration and Border Protection workers to exercise these powers reasonably, lawfully, impartially and professionally. The people who carry out these roles at our air and sea borders, airports and ports are the people who are involved in the detection and investigation of illicit goods and illegal visitors and in compliance and enforcement.

With air cargo consignments expected to increase by 85 per cent to 2016-17, sea cargo consignments expected to increase by 20 per cent and international travellers by 25 per cent, we certainly need an efficient, effective, single border force protection capability. As the ABF document notes, organised crime groups are growing and diversifying their interests as access to illicit markets expands and opportunities to disguise illicit movements increase.

The Australian Crime Commission notes that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime calculates that drug trafficking and organised crime generate the equivalent of US$870 billion. The commission says that illicit drug trafficking, fraud and money laundering have become more complex and that there is an ever-expanding range of new crime markets such as new drugs and precursors, wildlife trafficking and potential vulnerabilities of visa programs. The commission says that, today, law enforcement is focused on working in partnerships both nationally and internationally, with 67 per cent of our nationally significant serious and organised crime targets linked to at least one international jurisdiction, with most focused in South-East Asia.

The ACC also notes the growing sophistication of importation methods for firearms and illicit drugs and the international reach of criminals. The effect of organised crime on Australians is unparalleled; it is pervasive; it is powerful; and it is complex. And that is why this single approach is important. In March I read that the ACC, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the AFP, the New South Wales Crime Commission and the New South Wales Police Force, in a joint operation called Strike Force Nicolena, which was formed to investigate large-scale drug importation and money laundering, arrested two men and seized guns, drugs worth $4 million and $1 million in cash, as well as 10 kilograms of cocaine concealed in machinery imported from overseas.

We can only expect more sophisticated forms of people smuggling and control evasion. But I am particularly pleased to see that the prevention of movement in and out of the country by people of national security concern is a key focus of the government's border security and integrity measures. It requires an equally sophisticated and layered detection of threats—the single-agency approach that we see in this bill—to foster and share intelligence. For instance, last year 313,000 passengers were referred to immigration officers for further investigation; 2,328 of those were refused immigration clearance; and 364 were denied boarding for flights to Australia.

Organised crime has a high degree of determination and resources and uses cyber and IT in its efforts to corrupt, as we know very well. The bill contains a number of integrity provisions to increase resistance to criminal infiltration and corruption and to enhance government and public confidence in Immigration and Border Protection workers, as well as the confidence of other partners, including intelligence organisations and foreign governments, providing an integrated approach, which has been so successful in destroying the people smugglers' business model.

The Border Force Counter-Terrorism Unit will be part of the ABF once this legislation is passed. It is another example of how seriously the coalition government takes national security and border security issues. The Border Force Counter-Terrorism Unit has been working in our airports to detect potential jihadists trying to leave Australia. Eight teams conducting real-time assessments have successfully intercepted a number of people of national security concern.

I encourage all parents to be alert and aware of ISIL's online efforts that are directly targeting our vulnerable young people. When I deliver my cybersafety presentations to parents, I ask them to put their hands up if they know where their children are right at that moment, who they are with and what they are doing at that time. Most parents put their hands up. And then I ask them whether they can answer those same questions when their children are online: where are your children, who are they with and what are they doing? Few, if any, hands go up.

We have recently seen the reports of Australian teenager Jake Bilardi, who reportedly died as a suicide bomber in Iraq. His father said he shouldered much of the blame for his son's actions. One of his comments reported by The Sydney Morning Herald was:

… I would just like everyone to know that the buck stops here with me. He was my son.

Parents need to know what their children are doing online and who they are talking and interacting with. If we need another reason, we know that ISIL is targeting children as young as eight years old to be suicide bombers and 14-year-old girls to be married off to terrorist fighters. These are very good reasons for parents to be aware of what their children are doing, particularly online.

The Border Force Counter-Terrorism Unit employs 80 specialist officers with enhanced powers to intercept inbound and outbound passengers of national security interest. Another measure the government has taken is to cancel more than 100 passports.

This bill also includes provisions that enable the setting of standards for a highly trained, disciplined and flexible workforce, a legislative framework for the ABF, a single front-line operational border control and enforcement entity that will be formed within the department from 1 July 2015. It follows the government decision to integrate the department and the ACBPS into a single department of state. They are the reasons I support this bill.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the wonderful contribution that the member for Forrest makes to this place, particularly on a debate that is so poignant to many across this nation. You do not necessarily have to have an electorate that has part of our borders in it. I know the member for Forrest does. She is a strong advocate for her community around shipping and security and has a keen interest in the area of immigration. I acknowledge her contribution to the House.

It is a great privilege to be able to speak in the House on the Australia Border Force Bill 2015 and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015 and to espouse some of the wonderful benefits and contributions that the government has made to this very important policy decision that we took to the election. As a Liberal Party we went to the election and said that we would stop the boats. We were ridiculed by some who said that we campaigned on three-word slogans. Others who commented truly believed that the boats could not be stopped—the epidemic and the influx of boats that were arriving—and that it was beyond comprehension as to how they could be stopped.

You have to remember that the previous government tried to adopt seven different positions, in vain, to stop the boats. But they were half-hearted attempts, because some on the other side genuinely wanted to stop the boats, but there were others with an alternative agenda who were quite happy to see those boats continue coming.

The Australian Border Force Bill 2015 establishes the role of the Australian Border Force Commissioner and enables the operation of the ABF within the department. This is the government delivering on its ongoing commitment to the enhanced border protection arrangements announced in this year's budget. As I just alluded to, the government has a strong record on border protection. This government recognises the importance of protecting our borders and the importance of national security. Our nation's borders are our defining trait, and they should be treated like a national asset. One of the strongest qualities that we have as a nation is that we are an island nation. We are so remote. When we invite colleagues in other parliaments around the world to come to Australia, they are most keen to come. However, it is normally followed up by: 'Gee, it's a long way. It is a long way to come to visit you in the parliament.' That in itself is a defence mechanism but, because Australia is such a sought-after destination, some will try to get here by whatever means possible. It is imperative that we strengthen our border security.

Our clearly defined borders have for a long time served us well in protecting our nation's security, as well as allowing us to implement trade and business to our economic advantage. However, as technology allows for national borders to be blurred and as globalisation becomes inevitable, the need for a level of focus on border protection appears vital. In the next four years, the volume of travellers and goods crossing our borders is projected to increase significantly against a backdrop of more complex cargo supply chains and passenger routes. You only need to look at the increase in exports with the amount of ship traffic. Every one of those transactions provides, in its own way, a potential security risk. This is not just about focusing on our border protection and on the very visual illegal entrants; it is also about monitoring all shipping, all transactions, all logistic movements either by air or by ship, which come with a very real biosecurity threat. The reason that we have, by all definitions, been successful in border protection policy is that we have streamlined a number of the departments which, to all intents and purposes, were working in silos. It was conducted under a relatively militant style of operation and, as result of that, the rewards of our efforts speak for themselves.

The consolidation of the department of immigration and Customs and the establishment of the ABF is a once-in-a-generation reform. It is expected to generate $180 million in efficiencies over the forward estimates, increasing to $100 million each year after that. The establishment of the ABF ensures the capability at the border to manage this growth effectively and efficiently.

It has been over 240 days since an illegal boat arrival in Australia. Operation Sovereign Borders has cut off people smugglers' ventures. The government started turning back the boats and there has only been one illegal boat arrival since last year—one boat a year, compared to 302 boats carrying over 20,000 people in 2013. We have made considerable gains in this portfolio. As a member of the government I am proud to stand and acknowledge the contributions that ministers have made in this area.

In closing I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of our border protection personnel and what they do in defending our nation's borders. I had the opportunity to spend some time with the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program on HMAS Anzac. It was a border security exercise. It was off the coast of Africa where Somali pirate insurgents were prevalent inside the operational theatre area. The dedication of the men and women of our armed forces emulates the same commitment and passion of our immigration department and Customs and Border personnel who are protecting our border. Our country owes each of those departments a great debt. We owe them a great debt and should never forget the silent contribution that they make to our nation. I commend this legislation to the House.

Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the member for Wright's contribution. He is a frequent contributor on the national security debate and he certainly spoke a lot of sense on the importance of stronger borders. Like the member for Wright, I also welcome the opportunity to make a contribution on the Australian Border Force Bill 2015, and cognate bill, which establishes the role of the Australian Border Force Commissioner and enables the operation of the Australian Border Force.

By any measure, it is an initiative that adds further lustre to the government's significant achievements when it comes to border protection policy during the last 18 months. This bill contributes to the sort of unity of purpose and unity of operational command which this House must support in what is a complex and vitally important area of public policy.

It has been almost a year since the government announced fundamental reform of Australia's border protection arrangements on 9 May 2014, in particular the intent to integrate the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service into a single department and to establish the Australian Border Force from 1 July this year. It is a vital piece of legislation, because, when we refer to Australia's border, we are talking about protecting vast national assets. Australia, in simple terms, is the world's largest island—a maritime nation with an enormous challenge. Our country is roughly the size of the continental United States, with a population around the same size as that of the state of Texas. We are the only country that occupies a complete continent, the world's smallest continent, and the sixth-largest country by total area—about 7.7 million square miles. Only Russia, Canada, China, the United States and Brazil are bigger. So ensuring security on our borders is an enormous job and a vital strategic task.

By any measure, when we came to government, the coalition was confronted with an appalling mess on our borders—bad policy, disaggregated interagency responses and poor outcomes in relation to border protection. As someone who has spent over three decades involved in defence, security, international and interagency operations, what we were confronted with when we came to government after the September 2013 election just was not good enough. This bill makes a significant difference. It builds on lessons learned and ensures that Australia's border is much better protected into the years and decades ahead. The bill establishes the Australian Border Force and includes provisions to support the management of the workforce, to implement aspects of the professional integrity framework, to establish information protection requirements and to establish provisions to deal with serious misconduct.

The bill facilitates the consolidation of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service into the Australian Border Force, which is a once-in-a-generation reform. It is expected to generate $180 million in efficiencies over the forward estimates, with rolling efficiencies of around $100 million per year after that. With this reform and other measures, including the rolling of the Australian Agency for International Development into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with the First Principles Review of the Department of Defence and with a range of other organisational efficiencies we are considering, this government is acting to ensure that we live by the smaller government and savings culture that the Australian people expect and deserve.

There is a lot more I could say to build on the case that my colleagues have made, but, in the interests of time and ensuring that others have the opportunity to speak, I will just say couple of other things before handing over.

It is, after all, in the interests of regional nations to work together to understand and cooperate more closely and consistently towards the goal of a safe and secure region. Hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and cooperating with our regional neighbours are just some of the things that will result from the creation of the Australian Border Force. All of the efficiencies that we are making are going to be reinvested to create an intelligence-led, mobile, technology-enabled force, operating under a Strategic Border Command, ensuring our assets and resources are deployed to greatest effect. This bill refocuses our border protection effort and addresses a range of highly adaptive adversaries who seek to exploit our borders. Importantly, this legislation responds to the expected substantial increase in travellers and goods crossing our borders over the next four years, against a backdrop of more complex cargo supply chains and passenger routes.

I have seen estimates of 85 per cent growth in air cargo consignments, 20 per cent growth in sea cargo and a 25 per cent lift in international travellers. At the same time, we must tackle the ever-increasing threat posed by serious and organised transnational crime. So the government is seeking to ensure that we have the capability at our borders to handle this growth effectively and efficiently. At a time when there are growing concerns about threats on our borders, the new Border Force also to helps optimise our law enforcement and national security capabilities, to help us stay ahead of the transnational and organised crime syndicates that seek to exploit any weakness in Australia's border arrangements.

I wrote about this issue last July in an article published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute titled 'Australia and the Regional Terrorist Threat.' It was an article written in the context of regional citizens subordinating their duty to their own countries, to go to the Middle East and take up arms with one militant group or another. I spoke about the threat posed by South-East Asian fighters who go to Syria or Iraq and then return to regional transnational organisations like Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia and the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines. Given the relative weakness of institutional structures in some regional nations, the freedom of action that those committed and up-skilled fighters enjoy is reason for great concern. In Australia's case, that is because of the enormous number of Australians and other Westerners who transit and/or holiday in our region each year.

When we consider border security, there are a vast array of other threats we need to consider beyond those posed by transnational terrorists. Maintaining security on our borders for legitimate trade, travel and migration is a core responsibility of the Australian government, which we must take seriously. So I am pleased to see that this legislation responds to the growing threat on our borders, reflecting our relatively stronger institutional structures compared to those in some of our regional neighbours. It is also pleasing to see that the Australian Border Force will not operate alone. It will work in close collaboration with national security, defence, law enforcement and intelligence partners domestically and overseas to deliver a secure border. It is, after all, in the interests of regional nations to work to understand and cooperate more closely and consistently towards the goal of a safe and stable region. That is what the Australian Border Force will do. It will bring together the people, the capabilities and the systems to protect our border and facilitate the lawful passage of people and goods. It will enhance our unity of purpose between agencies that address the threats I have mentioned, by enabling the full integration of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection into a single department of state.

This is not a revolutionary idea, with the United States, through its Department of Homeland Security, and other reforms by the United Kingdom Home Office. We are similarly trying to ensure that our response options for a safer border are integrated and coordinated. We have considered these overseas experiences closely and have taken into account what has worked well internationally, while ensuring that we incorporate the unique challenges confronting Australia. Without this legislation, immigration and customs officers will not be able to counter the challenges and threats posed by increased volumes of travellers, traders and migrants, against the backdrop of consistent and complex security threats.

In terms of its reach, the Australian Border Force encompasses not only those who are on the front line of our air and sea borders but also those important enablers of capability—the people who detect, investigate and enforce compliance in relation to illicit goods and illegal visitors. This includes management of detention facilities and the removal of noncitizens who do not have a right to remain in Australia. It also includes overseas staff in operational roles with our regional partners to help secure Australia's maritime zone, to prevent and deter illegal arrivals, and to impede the movement of prohibited goods.

Let me conclude by saying that our Australian customs and border protection officials experience numerous challenges at our borders. This bill helps them respond to those challenges in a more integrated and coordinated way which accentuates unity of purpose and unity of command in an operational sense. I strongly commend this bill to the House.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise to speak on the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015. I also have great pleasure in following the member for Bass. To have someone of his vast hands-on experience in the military and in areas of border protection and the protection of the sovereignty of this nation does this parliament great credit.

The very first order of business for any sovereign government must be the defence of the nation and the integrity of its borders. That has always been true throughout history. If we look at the events in the world today, where there are so many people who seek to do us harm—with the problem that we have of the ice epidemic and the problem of people smugglers—probably at no time in our nation's history have the integrity and security of our nation's borders been more important. That is why I am proud to stand here and speak on this bill.

Sadly, the other side of politics in this country today simply does not take border protection seriously. We see it here today with the speakers' list. Ten of my colleagues are speaking on this bill, with not a single speaker from the other side prepared to stand up and defend their position. We saw, during the government of John Howard, that the previous Prime Minister stood up and made the simple, self-evident statement: 'We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.' That is a simple, self-evident statement, but it was howled down with sneers of ridicule and sniggering from the left. Then we saw the previous government, with their disdain for our border protection, undo the policies we had on boat arrivals. We saw the tragedy: 50,000 people came unlawfully to the country on 800 boats, with over 1,200 deaths at sea. There was an $11 billion blow-out in costs and thousands of children in detention. That is one area where this government has worked to address and fix the problems.

When it comes to our border protection, it is important before we start to look at the mess that was created by the Labor Party and that we have inherited and what we are doing to clean it up. I will start with some of the cuts that Labor made. It is important to note that these cuts were made at a time when the previous Labor government were throwing money around this country like confetti. They were not making cuts because they had a huge interest bill to pay on the debt that was created by the previous government; these were cuts they made at times when they had money for set-top boxes, they had $900 cheques to send out to dead people and they had billions for pink batts—this was the time they made these cuts.

I will start with the Australian Federal Police. In 2011-12, Labor made a cut of $131½ million and 72 people lost their jobs. In 2012-13, not satisfied with that previous cut, they then cut another $133 million and another 25 staff. To the Australian Crime Commission: in 2008-09 they started off with a cut of 50 staff. Not satisfied, the following year, 2009-10, they cut the budget by $2.28 million and cut 35 staff. They kept going in 2011-12, with a $7.3 million cut, and another 23 staff lost their jobs. In 2012-13, another cut was made, of $12.6 million, and another 36 staff lost their jobs.

We come to the cuts to the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. In 2009, a cut of 220 staff was made. In 2010-11, the Labor government cut another 250 staff from our Customs and Border Protection Service. In 2011-12, there was yet another cut, of $38.2 million, and another 90 staff lost their jobs. Not finished, in 2012-13 they cut $25.9 million and another 190 staff were cut, at a time when Labor were throwing money around like confetti. For every other thing they could think of they had money to throw at it but, when it came to the important issue of the sovereignty of our borders, they were making cuts. It was an absolute disgrace. When they made these cuts it had operational effects. The operational effects occurred in the screening of goods coming into this country.

When the Howard government left office, 60 per cent of air cargo consignments coming into the nation were screened—more than one in two. So, if you are thinking of importing something illegally, some illegal contraband or firearm, if you know that more than one in two consignments are going to be screened—more than 50 per cent—you know that, more than likely, your contraband will get caught. That fact alone becomes an important deterrent.

In 2009-10 Labor cut the budget for cargo screening by $58 million, and we saw a 75 per cent reduction in screening of air cargo. Under Labor we were down to 10 per cent of consignments being screened. So you only had a one in 10 chance of being caught. What a great incentive for someone to have a go at trying to import something illegal into the country if you know that there is only a one in 10 chance of being caught—when, before, 60 per cent of those air cargo shipments were being inspected. And, as sure as night follows day, as could be expected when you make those cuts, when you open up the holes in the net, you get people going through and importing illegal contraband.

One of the most notable cases was that of the 220 Glock pistols that were imported through a post office in Sylvania Waters, just outside my borders in the neighbouring electorate of Cook. Two hundred and twenty Glock firearms were imported into the country. At the time, the New South Wales Chief of Police, Mr Scipione said:

… these guns were being imported specifically for use by criminals, including outlaw motorcycle gang members and those Middle Eastern organised crime groups.

That was back in 2012. Thankfully, through the good work of our law enforcements agents, some of those guns are now out of circulation—out of society. I will quickly go through where a few of them were found.

In Wiley Park, back in January 2012, police recovered one of these Glock pistols imported into Sylvania Waters when they arrested a man named Khaled after he shot at his neighbour. In May 2012, at Revesby—a stone's throw from the borders of my electorate—an empty Glock magazine was found by a person walking their dog in a park. In May 2012, in the backyard of a residence in Glenfield Park another gun was found. In October 2012, this time at Merrylands, police found one of the imported Glocks hidden inside a secret compartment of a limousine.

Further, in October 2012, this time at St Mary's, a resident, an alleged member of the Lone Wolf bikie gang, was found with one of these illegally imported pistols and also drug manufacturing equipment. In December 2012, one of these guns had been fired at Greenacre and, following a raid, the police found another one of these guns at Rhodes. In February 2013, this time at World Square, another one of these guns was uncovered during a raid that also uncovered cocaine and cash. In March 2013, this time at Marrickville, another gun was found. In September 2013, this time at Westmead, one was found in the footwall of a stolen Mercedes in a garage. In December 2013, another one of these stolen imported Glocks was found at Matcham on the Central Coast. Another was found in Condell Park in the drawers of a bedroom. They have also been found in Surry Hills, Punchbowl and Edensor Park.

The police have located 14 of these weapons that were imported unlawfully through Sylvania Waters at the time the previous Labor government opened the holes in our nets. There are still 106 of these firearms somewhere in our society today. Somewhere—most likely in Western Sydney, in parts of my electorate—106 of these illegally imported firearms are still in circulation. That is what happens when you do not take border protection of our nation seriously. These are the consequences.

That is what this bill is about. It establishes the statutory office of the Australian Border Force Commissioner who will command the Australian Border Force with a new, front-line operational border control and enforcement entity within the Department of Immigration and Border Protection that will enforce customs and immigration laws to protect Australia's border. On this side of the chamber we take border protection and our national sovereignty seriously as part of the important obligation we have to look after Australia. This bill is part of it, and I commend it to the House.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank members for their contributions—in particular, the member for Hughes, as the last speaker on this legislation—in the second reading debate on the Australian Border Force Bill 2015 and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill 2015. These bills deliver on the government's commitment to ensure the protection of the Australian community, to enhance the integrity of Australia's border and to create efficiencies through the reform and integration of the department and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.

The purpose of the Australian Border Force Bill is to establish the role of the Australian Border Force Commissioner; thereby enabling the operation of the Australian Border Force as a front-line operational border control and law enforcement entity within the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The ABF Commissioner will have a dual role as the Comptroller-General of Customs and, in that capacity, will have responsibility for the enforcement of customs laws and the collection of border related revenue.

This is an historic occasion in the life of the departments—both Immigration and Customs and Border Protection—and I wish to put of the record my thanks to Mike Pezzullo, the secretary of the department, the former CEO of Customs and Border Protection, and also the current CEO of Customs and Border Protection, Roman Quaedvlieg.

The Australian Border Force Bill introduces provisions to support the management of a professional, disciplined and flexible workforce that exercises its powers and functions with the highest standards of integrity. This is crucial to underpin the government's and the community's confidence in our immigration, customs and border protection arrangements. The Australian Border Force Bill also enables the department to take strong action to deal with any workers who engage in serious misconduct that could undermine the good reputation of the department. Serious misconduct within the organisation has the potential to threaten the security of our borders and adversely impact the department's broader ability to carry out its law enforcement responsibilities.

The purpose of the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill is to make necessary legislative changes to accompany the passage of the Australian Border Force Bill through the parliament. The Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill updates a number of Commonwealth acts to reflect the new Australian Border Force organisational arrangements. It includes provisions to abolish the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service as a statutory agency by repealing the Customs Administration Act 1985. It also amends the Customs Act 1901 and other Commonwealth acts to reflect the new arrangements and to complement provisions in the Australian Border Force Bill.

The Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill provides that the integrated department will be a law enforcement agency under the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner Act 2006. This will ensure that the integrity commissioner will have unhindered ability to investigate suspected law enforcement related corrupt activity across my department, regardless of the role, location or job title of an individual officer.

The Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill also recognises that ABF workers may be required to conduct fast-moving and inherently high-risk operations relating to Australia's national security or defence. It amends the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to enable the ABF Commissioner to make declarations clarifying how the Work Health and Safety Act applies or is modified in relation to certain operations in these contexts.

The Australian Border Force Bill and the Customs and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Border Force) Bill underpin the government's commitment to ensure the protection of the Australian community and to enhance border protection integrity. The bills improve our border agencies' capacity to manage exponential growth in trade and travel, to assist and handle more complex cargo supply chains and passenger travel routes, and to bolster the ability to combat transnational crime syndicates that seek to exploit any weaknesses in our systems and so harm our community.

I thank all members who have participated in this debate and for their support of these important bills. I commend the bills to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.