Burke must come clean on illegal boat ‘advice’
05/08/10
Minister for Population Tony Burke has alleged he received ‘advice’ from the Department of Defence’s Northern Command (NORCOM) that it could not turn back boats attempting to illegally enter Australian waters.
“Ah, on the issue of going back three years, at that point we didn't have the advice that we have now, which the Coalition had when they were in government and we got as soon as we came in, which was that the, first of all, if you try to turn a boat back, there is no country that will accept them. An, and secondly, the moment you start to, the history has been for some years now, that the boat will start to sink.” – Tony Burke, Press Club Debate, ABC TV Thursday 5 August 2010
When pressed for additional information as to the source of the advice from a journalist, Tony Bourke identified NORCOM as the source –
“The, well, you’re, you’re... given the room where some of these pieces of advice come through, there's some limits on what I can say. But certainly, certainly NORCOM, the northern command and the defence, it's a joint agency of a number of different departments, the work that's done there, you’ll find whenever an Australian vessel goes out you have a number of different agencies on board.” – Tony Burke, Press Club Debate, ABC TV Thursday 5 August 2010
He said further, in regard to how he came by the advice -
“The advice that I just described to you, I received personally, ‘cause I receive some of this personally, as well, in my capacity as Fisheries Minister, where a lot of action happens in terms of illegal, illegal fishing entry vessels as well.” Tony Burke, Press Club Debate, ABC TV Thursday 5 August 2010
The Minister needs to clarify his statement. Does he in fact have Defence Force advice that the unprecedented numbers of illegal boat arrivals cannot be turned around? If so, was he permitted to release that information? And why hasn’t the Coalition been given a confidential briefing on this material?
The Coalition is committed to stopping the boats and standing up to people smugglers.