Labor says action by former government ‘sabotaged’ protocols for political gain and was ‘without precedent’ in Australian history
Morrison government staff pressured the Australian Border Force to draft and issue a statement about an asylum seeker boat intercepted on election day before the operation had finished, a damning departmental report has found.
At 12.34pm the department gave a draft release to the minister’s office, prompting revisions from Andrews’ office to add the vessel had arrived likely “illegally” from Sri Lanka. Pezzullo concluded that refusal indicated the public servants had acted in an “apolitical” manner and did not breach caretaker conventions.
At 1.06pm on election day, Morrison was asked about “reports” of an illegal asylum boat arrival, which he confirmed, adding: “I’ve been here to stop this boat. But in order for me to be there to stop those that may come from here, you need to vote Liberal and Nationals today.” “When the request was made to publish the public statement there was no evidence to suggest that officials were aware of the Liberal party planning to tweet and SMS the message ‘BREAKING – Aust Border Force has intercepted an illegal boat trying to reach Aus. Keep our borders secure by voting Liberal today. Https://vote.liberal.org.au’.”
Pezzullo suggested the new government consider adding to caretaker conventions that “in the ordinary course, sensitive information that is potentially politically significant should not be released publicly during the caretaker period unless a threat to life exists or some other urgency concerning public safety and security is involved”.O’Neil on Friday said the former government had “undermined the integrity of this complex operation, making it more difficult and dangerous”.
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