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

Thank you. Mr Morrison misspoke when he said that Labor was holding up the progress of the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2020. The truth is that the bill is still before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. Mr Morrison also misspoke when he said that Labor opposes the international production orders legislation. Mr Morrison said:

… that does not have bipartisan support and we need it passed.

In fact, the opposite was true. The intelligence committee had issued a bipartisan report in support of the legislation.

Then Mr Morrison claimed that Labor was holding up transport security changes. The transport security bill is a bill that has had in-principle Labor support since it was introduced in 2016 and that Mr Morrison allowed to lapse in not one but two federal elections. It could have become law in 2017 following amendments in the Senate, but the Liberal government did not proceed with the bill. Labor has long been concerned that the Liberals have refused to increase background and security checks for foreign crew working in Australia's domestic shipping industry. We want to work with the Liberals to improve our national security, but the government simply won't come to the table.

So we have Mr Morrison making false claims about three important national security bills. Mr Morrison politicising and playing games with national security, unfortunately, is not new. He sees everything through a political lens, and he thought that he could just politicise national security again. He was wrong. Most news outlets completely ignored Mr Morrison's claims. They knew these claims were false. They knew he was politicising national security. Those that did report the story called out Mr Morrison's false claims for what they were. Unfortunately, Mr Morrison did not learn from his mistakes and refused to improve the transport security bill. That is why we are here today debating the Migration Amendment (New Maritime Crew Visas) Bill 2020.

For all his photo ops and tough talk, Mr Morrison has left Australia's border security with a big, huge, gaping hole. That hole is caused by the Morrison government refusing to increase security and background checks on foreign crew who work up and down Australia's coast. After years of the Liberals undermining Australia's domestic shipping industry, most ships in Australian waters are now foreign flagged. Some 20,000 foreign flagged ships, with some 200,000 foreign crew, are in Australian waters every year. Yet, while Australian crew are generally required to hold a maritime security identification card, foreign crew are not. Obtaining an MSIC for an Australian is not easy, with Australians waiting for up to three months for their security checks to be finished. But how long does this Liberal government allocate for checking the backgrounds of foreign crew? Just 24 to 48 hours.

The Migration Amendment (New Maritime Crew Visas) Bill 2020 changes that. This bill will create two categories of maritime crew visa. The first visa, an international seafarers transit visa, is for seafarers entering Australia on a continuing international voyage. Indeed, this was the original purpose of the current maritime crew visa. The second visa will be an international seafarers work visa. Applicants for an international seafarers work visa must undergo similar security assessments as Australians do through an MSIC process. This is a common-sense reform to our visa system that will allow Australia to better protect its borders and root out a range of illegal activities that take place on foreign flagged vessels. Foreign flagged vessels, or flag-of-convenience vessels as they are known, have long been a source of illegal drug imports into Australia, with 83 per cent of cannabis, 72 per cent of cocaine and 72 per cent of amphetamines seized by authorities in 2018-19 coming from maritime ports. Despite these facts, the Morrison government has argued that foreign crew do not require vigorous security checks, because they are, 'Under constant supervision whilst in port.'

Well, events from just last week show that this is not true. On Sunday 13 June, two Vietnamese nationals escaped from their vessel while it was in port in Geelong. These two men also stole their passports from the master's cabin just before they escaped. To make matters worse, the Morrison government have refused to release details to the community to help them identify the escapees. If it wasn't for the Geelong Advertiser, who sounded the alarm, Australians may never have known about this border breach. The Australian Border Force is silent, with no Twitter updates and no media releases on its website. We know that a culture of secrecy has overwhelmed the Morrison government. It is now clear that that culture has spread into our border controls, with Mr Morrison limiting the information Australians can receive about border breaches. The incident in Geelong is symptomatic of the ongoing and significant risks of foreign crew working in Australia without sufficient oversight.

The Senate Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport Committee heard in March this year about an alarming lack of security screening conducted at our maritime ports. Our airports are investing in state-of-the-art scanners, with every crew member and passenger carefully scanned. But Morrison government officials have confirmed that there are no X-ray machines, no metal detectors and no bag checks at our maritime ports. The Department of Home Affairs also confirmed that foreign crew members can be left to wander through highly sensitive areas of ports without physical escorts accompanying them every step of the way.

I've previously spoken about the frightening case of Captain Salas and the Sage Sagittarius. He was provided with a maritime crew visa in 2015 and 2016 to sail into Australian waters, despite Australian authorities knowing he was linked to three suspicious deaths in 2012 and had admitted to being a gun runner. Despite all of that, Captain Salas was granted a maritime crew visa, which allowed him to work in Australia for a whole eight months. I could go on and on. I could speak about the gaps in the temporary licensing regime, whereby foreign vessels flagrantly flout Australia's laws. I could speak about how flag-of-convenience vessels have wreaked havoc internationally, used by al-Qaeda, North Korea, people smugglers and more. There are simply too many examples of the risks posed by a lack of oversight of flag-of-convenience vessels.

I could speak about how in 2017 the then Department of Immigration and Border Security advised this Senate that the regulation, rules and practices at our maritime ports allowed for flag-of-convenience vessels and foreign crew to undertake illegal activities—drug smuggling, gun running and more. In 2017 this chamber was warned by the Department of Immigration and Border Security that there are risks of foreign ships and foreign crew conducting illegal activities through our maritime ports. In the four years since, has this Liberal government done one thing to increase the security and to manage the risks at our maritime ports when it comes to foreign crew and foreign flagged vessels? No, they have not.

That is why this bill is before this Senate today. Where the government has failed, it is up to the Senate to step in and provide an appropriate security clearance process for foreign crew and flag-of-convenience vessels. They had their chance last week with the transport security bill. For some five years now they have had their chance to fix up the big gaping holes at our maritime ports, and they have failed to do so. It brings me no joy to bring this bill before the Senate. I would prefer that the government had tackled this problem. I would prefer that the government had amended their own transport security legislation last week. I would prefer that the government had listened to the advice of our national security agencies, including the Department of Immigration and Border Security. They have not, so it's up to the Senate now to take action.

I will conclude on this point. Australia's border security has a huge gaping hole at our maritime ports. It has been there for too long. It is a hole that organised crime is using to target and import illegal drugs into Australia. It's quite clear that the Liberals don't want us to think or know about this gaping hole in our border security. This is probably why Mr Morrison jumped into the AFP's press conference. He's obsessed with a photo opportunity. Mr Morrison wants you to think he's doing everything he can to stop drugs pouring into this country, but Australians are quickly learning that Mr Morrison is all about himself and he doesn't really care about them. When things go right, he is the first to take credit. When things go wrong, he refuses to take charge.

If Mr Morrison will not take charge, the Senate can. We must do everything we can to improve our border security to stop illegal drug imports, to stop illegal weapon imports, to stop human trafficking and to keep Australia and Australians safe. That is Labor's commitment to the people of Australia. That is why we have brought this bill before the Senate. That is what this bill will do. I look forward to the debate and seek the support of members of this Senate to fix this big gaping hole in our maritime border security.