Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you Minister. I think this goes to the heart of the matter. You've said twice now that there's no legislative requirement. I think if we get the answers we will find out that the practice at airports for foreign crew coming off aeroplanes is they go through metal detectors. They hand over their passports. They are assessed, quite frequently, by drug detector dogs. But when it comes to our maritime ports the practice is different. This is the point that was made by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection in 2017. It said:

There are features of flag of convenience registration, regulation and practice that organised crime syndicates or terrorists may seek to exploit.

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This means that FOC ships may be used in a range of illegal activities, including illegal exploitation of natural resources, illegal activity in protected areas, people smuggling, and facilitating prohibited imports or exports …

We heard from Senator Sterle the sad, long saga of Captain Salas and the fact that, according to the minister, we should have known he was coming. We know heaps about him. All the character tests in the world didn't stop him from coming back to Australian ports.

Here we have a circumstance where the government cannot explain the practice that is in place in maritime ports versus airports. But the Australian people have eyes. They see foreign crew at our airports being checked. The government has yet in any forum or any time this has been through a Senate inquiry been able to demonstrate that it has rigorous policies, processes and practices in place. The minister has made reference to the fact—and I will repeat it—that 72 per cent of amphetamines seized in 2018-19 came through our maritime ports. Some 20,000 foreign flagged ships visit Australian ports every year, crewed by some 200,000 crew. Senator Sterle made the point about how few Australian vessels there are these days. We've seen that 83 per cent of cannabis seized in 2018-19 was seized via sea cargo, 24 per cent of MDMA seized in 2018-19 was seized via sea cargo and 11 per cent of heroin seized in 2018-19 was seized via sea cargo.

Minister, you made the point before about the difference between kilograms and tonnes. It was a rather dramatic point—that kilograms come through airports and tonnes come through our maritime ports. That is the point we're making here. Let me ask you this: given the evidence you've just provided, what's to stop a crew member getting off a ship with a couple of kilograms of crystal meth in their backpack and walking straight into an Australian port? What's stopping that?