Subjects: Labor’s dismantling of OSB
GARY ADSHEAD: Karen Andrews was the Home Affairs Minister before the government changed hands, and she says ending the temporary protection visa policy will destroy the potency of Operation Sovereign Borders. Thanks very much for joining us this morning, Karen.
KAREN ANDREWS: Thank you.
GARY ADSHEAD: Look, I suppose my obvious question is that a long time ago, these people got temporary protection visas. But ten years is sort of got to the point now where they’re obviously not temporary. So what’s wrong with just basically saying to these people, you are now eligible to stay here under a different arrangement?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, there’s a number of issues. The one that is front of mind for me and is of great concern is the fact that this sends a very strong message to the people smugglers. That in fact, what this government has been saying about Operation Sovereign Borders remaining and the fact that you will never become eligible to settle here in Australia, has now been proven to be untrue. So it will open the door, the people smugglers will be listening, and that’s what is concern to me. Now, many of these people have been in our community for a very long time, so since before 2013, I accept that that is a long time, but they are within our community and they have been able to leave Australia at any time. They have chosen to stay here. But my big concern is the impact that this is going to have on potentially operations sovereign borders, which is now effectively defunct, and the fact that it may encourage people to risk their lives to come to Australia. Now, I understand people’s concerns. However, when I was the Minister for Home Affairs, my overriding concern was that people would die at sea if we did not maintain a strong position. And I remember sitting in parliament and debating this at the time, I remember the images where people were being plucked out of the sea, and I never want to see that happen again.
GARY ADSHEAD: Can I ask you, how long were they supposed to remain as temporary protection visa holders? I mean, how long was it going to go on for? Let’s say there hadn’t been a change of government, for example. I mean, how long were they going to just be put in this holding pattern?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, it would’ve continued under the Coalition and government, and we were always very clear about that because our overriding concern was not opening the door to people’s smugglers. And look, those, those images were horrific. The people who were plucking dead bodies out of the sea have been left scarred, it was, it was a horrendous time, and no one wants that to happen again, and we already know that under the new Labor government, there is one arrival a month that is being turned back. And whilst that can work when we’re at the level of one arrival a month, which I should point out is much greater than the, it was under the Coalition, from a considerable period of time, many years, but the issues are just so significant for our protection of our borders and the fact that we don’t want people dying at sea.
GARY ADSHEAD: Okay. So the people that have been here, about the 18,000 or so under temporary protection visas, what sort of rights did they have in terms of social security and other government supports?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, they’re able to be within the community. They are able to start businesses. They are able to undertake employment. They actually can undertake higher education. But my understanding is that they are required to pay full fees to be able do that. And actually, it’s reported in the papers today about an individual who is currently studying at the moment. So it comes down to a cost. Now, we’ve also, we’ve seen that Labor’s border protection policies were costing about a billion dollars a year, a billion dollars. No one wants to go back to that they’re tipping more money into try and resolve their policies now close to $10 million will be provided to make sure that these visas are properly processed. And I understand the humanitarian side of this and the arguments that are being put. But these people are safe in the community. And whilst they did not have a pathway under the coalition government to become permanent residents here in Australia, their life was not being threatened.
GARY ADSHEAD: So I suppose I’m trying to say this, that if you think that now the people smugglers may say, ‘let’s have a go again’, ‘let’s start selling the idea that you can get to Australia and stay there forever.’ These people were pretty well staying. I mean surely the people smugglers could have said ‘go to Australia, you get a temporary protection visa, it can go forever and you can live in the community and you can get support from government’ and so on. I mean, what is the difference really in terms of its three letters, TPVs?
KAREN ANDREWS: No, that did not give them permanency. Not at all. So a temporary protection-
GARY ADSHEAD: But they were pretty well living in the community, going about normal lives, starting businesses, I mean-
KAREN ANDREWS: -Yes. And they could have done that under SHEVs, just to be clear on that, but it was a temporary protection visa, which meant that it was subject to review, and when it was safe for these people to return home, they would’ve been returning home. So there was nothing permanent under a temporary protection visa. It was exactly that.
GARY ADSHEAD: Okay. So, I mean, we don’t know yet what’s going to be the fallout from this.
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, and that may well be successful with boat turnbacks when they’re only getting one boat. But we know that the people smugglers have reactivated their trade because we are now getting one boat a month. And we weren’t getting that under the Coalition government. And we also know that there are dozens of boats with hundreds of people on them that have been stopped by the Sri Lankan Navy. So there has been an active increase in what the people smugglers have been doing, and that’s happened under the Labor government. So all of the evidence is there, and this is just further exacerbating a situation that had, should never have been allowed in the first instance, all the parts working together were significant.
GARY ADSHEAD: Do you have a view that the offshore processing is more potent than the issue around the temporary protection visas, or was it a combination obviously under John Howard? I mean, what was it, both or was one more significant. Do you think all the parts working together were significant?
KAREN ANDREWS: That was why Operation Sovereign Borders, with its three key pillars, was so significant.
GARY ADSHEAD: Thanks very much for joining us, Karen.
ENDS