Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Assistant Treasurer (Senator Sherry) to a question without notice asked by Senator Colbeck today relating to the Australian Customs patrol vessel, Oceanic Viking.

This situation with the Oceanic Viking is fast turning into a complete and utter farce. It is really taking on the dimensions of a Laurel and Hardy episode. To quote from Laurel and Hardy, this is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into.

The Oceanic Viking is now in its fifth week—

Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator O’Brien interjecting—

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You guys can decide because you are running the show, Senator O’Brien. The Oceanic Viking is now in its fifth week of being tied up with this group of asylum seekers, and we know that it made a delivery to Christmas Island at least a week before that. In his answer to my question, Senator Sherry referred to budget documents which allowed $6 million over two years for 80 extra days over those two years. In that context, their allocation for this year is already up. They have spent at least 40 additional days—most of them on this group of asylum seekers—and there are still 56 on board the ship who are giving no indication of being about to get off. The government might claim a bit of a victory with the 22 that disembarked over the weekend, and I suppose that is fair enough, but while ever there is one person remaining on that ship and refusing to leave, this remains a policy failure and it just reinforces the failure of Mr Rudd’s Indonesian solution. The floating solution is no solution.

We know that this is the time of year when activity in the Southern Ocean is at its greatest. This country, along with its international friends, put in a lot of effort to get rid of poaching in the Southern Ocean. We do not want to go back to the situation we faced in 2005 where we were aware of at least six vessels down there fishing illegally, or in 2006 where there were nine vessels fishing illegally. We, along with our international partners, have expended an extraordinary amount of effort in that fishery to clean it up and to get rid of the poaching. As Senator Sherry said, we do not advertise where the ship is or when it is going to be sailing, but at the moment it is bloody obvious to the whole world where the ship is: it is sitting off Indonesia with 56 asylum seekers on it. So the illegal fishermen can go down there with impunity. They know that our vessel that patrols those waters, a vessel that is designed to work in those southern Antarctic waters because it is strengthened to deal with ice, is not available. It is currently a floating solution for Mr Rudd’s failed Indonesian solution.

Then we come to other activities. Last summer the Oceanic Viking spent a lot of time—between mid-December and April—shadowing the Japanese whaling fleet. We are within four weeks of that process recommencing, but the Japanese do not have to worry about the ship this year because it is stuck off Indonesia’s northern waters. So the government may well have made an additional allocation in the budget of $6 million for 80 days over two years, but that $75,000 a day is being spent on this ship whilst it is bailed up off Indonesian waters. Where is Australia’s cop on the beat? It is certainly not doing the job that it was given.

The government mentions the other vessels the Navy has, but they are not ice strengthened. They cannot go down into these southern waters to deal with the poachers. Senator Macdonald did great work when he was fisheries minister in acquiring this vessel and putting it onto the beat and, as I said before, we cleaned up a situation where in 2005 there were six vessels and in 2006 there were nine vessels poaching down there. We worked hard to clean that up and yet, because of the failed policies of the Rudd government with respect to asylum seekers, our cop on the beat is sitting off the coast of Indonesia with 56 asylum seekers on board. The sailing of that ship is supposed to be a covert operation. As Senator Sherry said, we do not indicate when the ship is at sea or where it is. But it is there for the whole world to see and the publicity it is getting makes sure that everybody knows about it.

So while ever this policy failure remains, and while ever the government fails to get the asylum seekers off the ship, that is the story. It is evident to asylum seekers as a result of this that, if you can create a special circumstance, this government will give you a special solution. That is what has been offered to the asylum seekers to get off the ship. If you can create a special situation, the government will give you a special solution. (Time expired)

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Colbeck, for going over time there to talk about this issue.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It’s very important!

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, it is an important issue, but I think Senator Colbeck incorrectly categorises the issue. He particularly incorrectly categorises the issue when he talks about victory, or for that matter defeat, in terms of getting 22 asylum seekers off the Oceanic Viking. This issue is not about whether we have a victory or a defeat as a government or as a country. This is about trying to sensibly resolve an issue on our northern coast. As a government we are trying to deal with this issue in a calm and humane way. We are trying to resolve what is a very difficult issue for this country. We are doing it, I think, in a sensible way which will not lead to either victory or defeat but hopefully lead to a sensible long-term outcome for this country.

Senator Colbeck suggests that the Oceanic Viking being in Indonesia at the moment affects our ability to deal with the issue of illegal fishing, particularly in the Southern Ocean. But the fact of the matter is that illegal foreign fishing in Australian waters has declined significantly over the last three years.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Do you know why?

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am just about to tell you why, Senator Macdonald.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It’s because we had the Oceanic Viking down there.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No. It is because of the policies of this government. That is why.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash interjecting—

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that you have read the polls—

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Back interjecting—

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have one good Newspoll, so you think you are onto a good thing here, Senator Back.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Farrell, address the chair, please.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash interjecting—

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on my left!

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy President, for protecting me. I was saying that we will protect this country in a way that the previous government never, ever did. They never, ever protected this country. They never, ever solved this problem. And, just as they did with the issue of illegal fishing, they have left the issue of asylum seekers to us to solve, and we will. We are starting to solve it, with 22 people coming off the Oceanic Viking. We will continue to solve that problem.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Administration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You’re not serious, are you?

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I am deadly serious, Senator Cormann.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash interjecting—

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on my left!

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for your protection again, Mr Deputy President. We are in the process of resolving this problem. We are doing it in a humane and calm fashion, unlike the hysterical fashion of the previous government. We continue to do what we need to do to reduce the issue of illegal foreign fishing in this country. The government takes the issue of foreign illegal—

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Don’t say it!

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

fishing seriously—

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Don’t say it!

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am going to say it whether you like it or not, because it is the truth, Senator Cash. We take the issue seriously and we are solving the issue. Illegal foreign fishing in this country is going down. I know it is something you like to laugh about, Senator Cash, but it is the truth. You do not like the truth; you would prefer to read a Newspoll that says you can get some temporary political advantage exploiting the unfortunate circumstances of these asylum seekers. We are not going to let you do that, because we are dealing with the issue of foreign— (Time expired)

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is one word I would use to describe the contribution from the other side: ‘delusional’. They say that they have rolled out a humanitarian program. What is humanitarian about replacing those people on the Horn of Africa in the most desperate need, as identified by the UNHCR, with those people who can afford $15,000 for everybody in their family? I do not know what is humanitarian about that. I think it is absolutely and utterly delusional. If they are accusing this side of parliament of doing nothing about illegal foreign fishing when we were in government, I can show you that there is absolutely no truth to that at all.

I would like to commend my colleague Senator Colbeck for the wonderful contribution he made about identifying how we are moving and using strategic assets in a way that is not in the national interest. What could possibly be the point of taking our primary fishing and enforcement vessel and tying it up in Indonesia and embarrassing Australia? What is the fundamental point of that? These people are completely delusional if they think they are doing this well. This is a con job. They are not only trying to con the Australian people; they are also conning some of the Sri Lankan people aboard Oceanic Viking.

In Senator Evans’s answer to my question today, he confirmed that the detention facility on Tanjung Pinang is in fact an Indonesian facility. He said it was under Indonesian control and therefore he could not dictate how or when the asylum seekers would be processed. I hope the asylum seekers do not have television and I hope we are not broadcasting to them. If I were one of them I would be on full alert, because, if the minister cannot dictate how or when asylum seekers are processed, I do not know how he can possibly make this fundamental promise to those people currently on Oceanic Viking that they will be dealt with in a certain amount of time.

The minister gave lovely criteria. He said there was a 90-day time frame. The reports reveal that the average processing time of asylum seekers on Christmas Island has now blown out to six months. We have just had a number of Sri Lankans repatriated from Christmas Island. They arrived in April. So you can imagine why I am a little bit stunned when those on the other side say, ‘No, in Australia we take only six months to process and repatriate someone on Australian soil’—with all the processes and resources of government, in Australia, under our law and under our governorship! But of course that is all out the window. We cannot do it in six months. But the minister has said to us today that we can promise a 90-day time frame and a four-week resettlement on the basis that it is happening in a place we have absolutely no control over.

If their intent is to make Indonesia look more appealing than Christmas Island, I have to say that they are really delusional on the other side. Next to an Indonesian facility, Christmas Island must seem like a Club Med resort. As we heard in the news the other day, tragically, part of the processing is that if you arrive onshore unsure about yourself or if you make a bit of a bolt, you will get shot at or in fact shot. So I think the process they are going through on the other side is completely delusional.

The problem really is that the government intend to tell Australians that it is not doing any special deal. It is okay for the hundreds and hundreds of people who have been languishing for years—not months or weeks but for years—in Indonesia either in a detention facility or on some other arrangement in the community. For those hundreds of people who did not flee to Australia recently when they changed the pull factors—the suck factors from Australia—why would you suddenly say that the 56 people remaining on the Oceanic Viking somehow have more rights to some sort of resettlement process than the UNHCR refugees who have already been processed and mandated and are ready for resettlement? This makes a mockery of Australia being a signatory to the refugee convention and this makes a mockery of the Australian people. The government are completely delusional if they think the Australian public will swallow this one.

Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note the statement by Senator Colbeck in opening the debate to take note of answers. He referred to a Laurel and Hardy quote, ‘What a fine mess you’ve gotten us into,’ as somehow being justification for the opposition’s position in this matter, meaning what a mess the government got the country into by sending the Oceanic Viking to pick up these people from a vessel which was in distress. Let me remind the Senate that it was only on the 16 October that the Australian authorities received a distress call from this vessel which was passed onto the relevant authorities within the Australian government, including Border Protection Command and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. It was determined that the vessel was in international waters and within the Indonesian search and rescue region. Early on the morning of 17 October, the next day, the information was passed to the Indonesian authorities who confirmed they would be coordinating the search and rescue of the vessel, but later that morning they advised that no vessels were available to respond and there were no responses to a general call for assistance.

What was the Australian government to do? What the Australian government did was to send HMAS Armadale to the scene and the Oceanic Viking was directed to respond. Was that wrong? Was Senator Colbeck suggesting we were getting the Australian people into a mess when we responded to a call to assist a vessel? It was the Indonesians who were obliged under safety of life at sea conventions to respond, but they indicated that they could not. So was it wrong for the Australian government to go and potentially save a number of people from death at sea? Is that the wrong that Senator Colbeck suggests that the Australian government performed? Was the mess that we got ourselves into in picking up the people?

Yes, the vessel is detained because the Australian government said that we picked these people up in Indonesian waters and we would be discharging them into Indonesia. We said we would not be taking them to an Australian port to discharge them. If the criticism is that we got the Australian people into a mess, it is because (a) we were not bringing the people back to Australia and (b) we were not content to allow that vessel to sink and those people, including women and children, to drown because no-one else was going to pick them up. If that is the test that the opposition put to the Australian people, frankly they should be ashamed of themselves. What they are saying is that the government should have let those people drown. I reject that and this government rejects that. The Australian people are a much more generous people than this opposition gives them credit for. The Australian people would expect the Australian government to do what it could to save people on the high seas who have indicated distress. The problem is that the people on board are now saying, ‘We want to go to Australia,’ and the Australian government is saying, ‘You will get off in Indonesia’. Therefore there is a stand-off. What would we do? The Indonesians are insisting that those people need to get off the boat of their own volition. The Australian government is pursuing that path and having some success.

But what is this all about? It is all about the parlous position of the opposition in the opinion polls. We have seen another Newspoll, which seems to be inconsistent with other polls, indicating there might have been some support for the opposition arising possibly from this issue. Given the parlous position that the opposition are in and the way that they are tearing themselves to shreds—and you have only to have watched Four Corners last Monday night to see it—they are seeking to grab onto something to indicate to the Australian people that they are relevant. Frankly, this issue will disappear, as have a number of others, and the opposition will have to justify their position and go to the next election with some real policies. How long did it take for Mr Turnbull to come out and talk about a return to temporary protection visas? It took about two weeks of this particular issue running and the pressure of last week’s Four Corners program which the opposition knew was coming. This is just another issue in trying to hold together the coalition at a time when they are falling apart. (Time expired)

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also wish to speak on the motion to take note of the very embarrassed answer of Senator Sherry, the Assistant Treasurer, to an excellent question from Senator Colbeck relating to the Oceanic Viking and the patagonian toothfish stocks it is supposed to be protecting. Back in 1997, a unique alliance was formed between sensible, practical conservation groups, the very professional fishing industry that fishes the Southern Ocean and the Australian government. We were all concerned that the stocks of the patagonian toothfish, a very rare and very valuable fish, were being plundered by pirates. From that moment, we as a government took a great deal of action to protect those fish stocks for the Australian fishing industry in a very controlled way and to ensure the continuation of this species of fish.

The Howard government was very strong on border protection and protecting its fish stocks, as it protected its borders against illegal immigrants. As a result of that, and a lot of work by the Howard government, in August 2003 an Australian patrol vessel, the Southern Supporter, followed the Viarsa 1, a patagonian toothfish pirate vessel caught fishing illegally in Australian waters, for some 21 days across the Southern Ocean and the southern Atlantic Ocean: some 3,900 nautical miles and the longest chase in Australia’s maritime history. I do not think I am giving away any secrets now, some seven or eight years after that, to disclose that on the Southern Supporter there was not even so much as a cap pistol—no armaments at all. But it followed this vessel and, with the help of the British and South African authorities, that vessel was arrested and brought back to Australia.

As a result of that, the Australian government then decided to get a vessel that could actually go down into the Southern Ocean and protect our fish stocks; an armed vessel that would really make the pirates sit up and take notice. As a consequence, the Oceanic Viking was acquired. It is an ice-strengthened vessel and it has two 50-calibre machine guns on it. It was there to protect the fish stocks in the Southern Ocean. Since it was acquired by the Howard government it has served its purpose: because the pirates knew we were serious and because we had a strong policy, patagonian fish pirating actually ceased. It is one of the great credits to the Howard government that they got rid of that pirate trade in the very valuable patagonian toothfish stock.

Fast forward to the Rudd government, with its well-known soft approach on border protection—everywhere you look the Rudd government has no interest in strong border protection for Australia. Have a look at the illegal immigration issue: the Rudd government laid out the welcome mat to illegal immigrants into Australia. In so doing, they have ensured that the vessel that was specifically acquired for the ice flows in the Southern Ocean is now holed up off Indonesia in tropical waters, doing something necessary because of the failure of the Rudd government’s border protection policy.

I can assure you that the patagonian toothfish pirates are a well-organised, very well-intelligenced group. I can almost bet you that they are now heading back to the Southern Ocean, because this fish stock is a very valuable fish. There is a lot of money to be made, and their intelligence sources will tell them that this boat—the scourge of their lives—is holed up in some tropical port off Indonesia. So the patagonian toothfish pirates will be down there, raping the Australian fish stock, and the Rudd government has no answer for that. It is the failure of the Rudd government’s border protection policies in all of its forms that causes us to stress as a nation and to be laughed at by those who would breach our borders.

Question agreed to.