Minister Morrison: Thank you. I have called this conference today to firstly make reference to today's weekly statement on Operation Sovereign Borders, which as you know is issued each Friday, and importantly, to provide a further update regarding the incidents at Manus Island and action that has followed.
Today's Operation Sovereign Borders update notes that once again there have been no successful people smuggling ventures to Australia in the course of the past week.
More significantly, there has not now been a successful people smuggling venture to Australia for 64 days, the longest consecutive period without a successful venture since August of 2008.
During the same period last year, in 2012/13, there were 32 boats with 1847 passengers who successfully made it to Australia in people smuggling ventures.
Operation Sovereign Borders is stopping the boats, but the boats are not yet stopped and it is still far too soon to be making those sorts of conclusions.
The people smugglers are on the back foot, that is clear. Arrivals are down to levels not experienced since before the successful measures of the Howard Government were abolished by the previous government.
These results are the product of the full suite of measures being implemented by this government under Operation Sovereign Borders. However the cornerstone of this success in preventing people smuggling ventures making it to Australia are our operations at sea and the deterrence policies being implemented up through the chain.
It is one thing to say, with offshore processing that you will never be resettled in Australia. It is another thing to say, under Operation Sovereign Borders, your venture will not make it to Australia. This has been the decisive factor over the past more than nine weeks, where there has not been a single successful venture.
Offshore processing is a key part of our plan. That is why we forced the previous government to restore it. That is why we took steps since we have taken office to fill the $1.2 billion funding black hole that was left for these centres that left them under capacity and under-resourced, as we knew they would face considerable pressures in the weeks and months ahead. These facilities, including Manus Island, are standing and operational today despite the significant events and challenges that have been faced.
But of itself offshore processing is a backstop measure. Labor called it their cornerstone, albeit introduced under protest, because it was their only stone. The Coalition's full suite of measures being implemented through Operation Sovereign Borders is making the difference that was required and we will continue to implement these measures. Our resolve to continue to implement the full suite of measures under Operation Sovereign Borders is absolute.
In relation to Manus Island I can report that the Secretary of my Department, Mr Bowles, has initiated an independent review to investigate and report on the key issues surrounding the incidents and those events leading up to them.
This Review will be undertaken by Robert Cornall, a former Secretary of the Attorney-General's Department. Mr Cornall conducted the previous review into sexual assault allegations at Manus Island, conducted under the previous government also initiated by my Secretary.
This review, as previously indicated, will be the same, following the same process as those conducted by the previous government into the violent riots that occurred at Nauru, Villawood, and Christmas Island on their watch, where facilities were burnt to the ground.
Mr Cornall will be asked and tasked to:
determine exactly what the facts are
ensure that those facts are available to any authorities for any action that would take place as a result; and
ensure that the Department is provided with clear recommendations on any improvements that can be made to assist in the management of any future incidents.
I wish to stress that the review will look closely at any actions of those contracted to provide services at the centre in a safe and secure manner.
A Terms of Reference has been drafted and the Secretary will be conferring with the Chief Migration Officer in Papua New Guinea, before finalising those Terms of Reference on Monday, at which time they will be made available on the Department's website.
We must remember that Papua New Guinea also has an active police investigation that is underway, as was promised by Prime Minister O'Neill, that formally addresses the jurisdictional justice issues that are the sovereign responsibilities of the PNG Government in relation to these incidents, and particularly any criminal matters.
This is an important point to be understood, jurisdictionally.
Under the arrangements established by the former government, control and management of the centre is placed within the PNG Government, consistent with their sovereign responsibility. Under the terms of the MOU with Papua New Guinea, the Australian Government provides support to the PNG Government in this role.
The new government obviously supports these arrangements and greatly appreciates the role that is provided by the Papua New Guinea Government under the arrangement and the commitment they have to fulfilling those obligations under that agreement.
Accordingly, it is important that Mr Cornall will work closely with PNG authorities on this review.
He will also ensure that PNG officials and other relevant people are involved and kept informed of the progress of this review. It is intended that this review will complement the investigations of the PNG Government.
Now that we have initiated this review there are many questions that need to be answered and you have been asking many of them, as have I. There are many answers that still have to come. This was a very serious incident and it is one that will take some time to collect the information to determine the facts and get the answers we are all interested in getting. We intend to be patient in working through that process and ask that you also be patient as we work through that review. The review is being conducted to get the answers to these questions. It won't be my practice to speculate on any number of reports that may come along the way. It is our intention to get to what happened on this incident to understand the facts clearly, to be in a position to confirm those facts. That is the process we are engaged in, it is the process we are committed to.
I have also been advised, more generally, that face-to-photo checks have been undertaken repeatedly over the last few days, with all transferees accounted for, except sadly the one person who is deceased.
In relation to the deceased I can advise that our Tehran post has been in contact with the family of the deceased man and they have given their permission for his details to be released.
The deceased is a 23 year old Iranian national male, named Reza Barati. Mr Barati arrived on SIEV805, at Christmas Island on 24 July 2013 with no family members. He arrived on Manus on 27 August 2013.
The family has expressed their wish to have the body returned to Iran for burial arrangements. The Australian Government will fulfil that request and will make the necessary arrangements in accordance with the Government of Papua New Guinea.
The body is in the process of being moved to Port Moresby by International SOS (on behalf of IHMS) with a police escort to maintain the integrity of evidence.
Australia is supporting the Royal Papua New Guinea Police Force in its investigations by assisting with the autopsy, which will be conducted in Port Moresby.
Once the PNG Authorities have released the body after investigations, our Port Moresby post will assist with the repatriation of the deceased's remains and the personal effects to Iran, and of course our post conveyed the deep sympathies of the Australian Government to the family of the deceased.
In relation to other medical updates on the injuries of those sustained, while initial reports were that there were 77 transferees injured, that number has now been revised down by IHMS to 62.
40 transferees were assessed and immediately discharged from the IHMS clinic.
13 transferees have been assessed as being able to be treated and managed locally. They were reassessed and triaged again yesterday. The condition of the transferees is stable and their injuries do not require transfer off island for medical management.
Two transferees were medically evacuated to Port Moresby for treatment for head and facial injuries.
One transferee was medically evacuated to Port Moresby for head, pelvic and knee injuries.
One transferee shot in the left buttock was transferred to Port Moresby for treatment.
One transferee was medically evacuated to Australia for treatment for head injuries.
Three transferees were transported to Port Moresby also for head injuries.
And one transferee is awaiting transfer to Port Moresby also for treatment of head injuries.
All transferees are reported to be in a stable condition and that is the update I have as of today.
Journalist: You mentioned the jurisdictional issues here. How much is your investigation going to be able to cover? Are you only going to be able to cover Australian contractors, given the jurisdiction of the Papua New Guineans, and what will you be able to …when will we actually find out what happened? Will we find out from a combination of these reports, or from PNG?
Minister Morrison: Well I certainly think the combination of the reports should give us that picture, but that does not restrict the review that Mr Cornall's going to undertake. You should note that Mr Cornall has already conducted a review into sexual assault allegations on Manus Island, so he is fairly familiar with the jurisdictional issues that are here. I also note that the same review was conducted in relation to the Nauru incident, also where the same jurisdictional issues are in place and so there is the scope because I think of the excellent working relationship that exists between Australia and both the Government of Nauru in that case and the Government of Papua New Guinea in this case, to ensure that this review will have the opportunity to go widely into these matters, and as it says, to establish the facts.
Journalist: Minister, in light of the Nauruan riots under Labor, you said that Labor should shoulder responsibility for the riots saying it was sparked by asylum seekers' frustration that their claims had not yet been processed. Given the people on Manus Island have also been in limbo, should you now take responsibility for these riots?
Minister Morrison: I do take responsibility for things that happen within my portfolio under my management. Of course I do. That's what ministerial portfolio responsibility means and that's why since we came into office, I've been taking steps every day to try and upgrade and get the offshore processing facilities in a far better shape. And that in particular required us to address some immediate security issues at the centre and also to deal with what was a very significant underfunding and under-capacity issue at those centres.
I mean, in the absence particularly of the other parts of Operation Sovereign Borders, boats would have just continued to arrive and these centres would have been overrun. Now that hasn't happened for a combination of measures under this government, but there have been some very significant matters we've had to address up there Tom, and that's what we've been doing. We knew that it would be tested, it has been tested, the centre still stands. There has been a tragic incident involving one individual, but the centre still operates.
Journalist: Given it has been several months since you came to power, and no more arrivals as you say, so is there a reason why there is still such a lag in this processing and have you looked at that and….
Minister Morrison: Well we have and that was the subject of quite a number of conversations I've had with the government of Papua New Guinea. And the processing did commence. It has been ongoing, the engagement with the CASS Support officers and others and that process has been continuing. Now, it may never go as quickly as some may like it to go and I would like it to go more quickly as I know the Government of Papua New Guinea would also like it to proceed more readily.
There is also the issue to deal with in terms of what happens once someone's refugee status has been determined, which is a point that Lenore's been rightly making for some time. And to do that you have to then have a resettlement arrangement in place that has details and that can be implemented. And you also need accommodation in place for those who are found not to be refugees as well, and they're matters we've been addressing quite urgently. I mean, one of the first things we did was to ensure there was post-settlement accommodation for people found to be refugees in Papua New Guinea as a bridging point, at the very least, for those found to be refugees, while longer term resettlement issues in PNG were being determined.
Now, as I've said before, those longer term resettlement issues in PNG were left as a blank page by the previous government. Those things are very difficult to work out and when governments make hasty announcements about large scale agreements like the one the previous government did, without working through the detail of how it would be done, then you find yourself in the situation we found ourselves when we came to government. Now I remember making those exact points at the time that this would be hard, and it would be detailed. It is still hard, it is still detailed. The commitment of the Papua New Guinea Government to resettlement in PNG is clear. The Prime Minister has made that very clear, but we are still working through those details.
Journalist: Mr Morrison, had Mr Baraki's asylum claim, had processing of that claim begun and had there been any draft determination and also you mentioned the accommodation, for the sort of bridging accommodation on Manus Island for people whose claims had been determined, does what happened make you reassess or review in any way, how that accommodation will be used for people who are determined to be refugees?
Minister Morrison: Well, let me deal with the first one first. I don't have the details of his asylum case and where that had arrived at in terms of processing. That would be a matter that we would also have to confer with the family about and that's not information that I have the authority to release at this point anyway.
On the second issue, the accommodation, post assessment accommodation for people found to be refugees is there for that exact purpose. That's why we are building it. The previous government had made no arrangements for that at all, it was one of the first things we identified was necessary and that's what we've been doing.
Journalist: But given there's been these violent clashes, does that cause you to review in any way, people moving into accommodation on Manus Island that would have less security than the camp?
Minister Morrison: Well, I wouldn't be making the assumption you have Lenore, in the question, which is that somehow people would not be as safe living on Manus Island as anywhere else in Papua New Guinea, is that the implication of the question?
Journalist: I'm asking if you are reviewing that plan in any way in light of…
Minister Morrison: Well, what would give us cause to review that plan about post-assessment accommodation in East Lorengau where we've been building those facilities. There is nothing before me that would cause me to reconsider that plan for post-assessment accommodation for people outside of the facility at East Lorengau, that's what its designed for and it's our intention to continue with the resettlement plans that we have.
Journalist: Minister, the riots this week, have they in any way disrupted Transfield Services taking over the security contract and the welfare services, building management at Manus?
Minister Morrison: No, it's a challenging environment but they've been doing a great job with the transition.
Journalist: Why hasn't the contract been signed by the department?
Minister Morrison: Well, I'm not going to go into the details of the contractual matters here at this press conference. The decision to consolidate our contractual arrangements on our offshore processing centres was one that was taken some time ago, I remember it being the focus of quite a bit of discussion at early OSB briefings in Sydney. That was done because one of the things we thought we needed offshore, and that has clearly been borne out I think by recent events, is we needed a more integrated contract management and system in process that was operating over both islands.
Now the previous government took a fairly ad-hoc approach to these contractual arrangements. We've taken I think a more considered and integrated approach to this and that's what we've been implementing and those transitions from those service providers to the new ones at Manus have been continuing and I'm pleased with the way that it's going despite the challenging circumstances. Nick.
Journalist: Minister, the PNG Police Mobile Squad, have they been moved away from the detention centre, can you say why that is? And is the government going to keep paying an allowance to the PNG Police Mobile Squad?
Minister Morrison: Well the arrangement with the PNG police is that the Australian Government makes a payment to the PNG Police in Port Moresby. The process of who and what force is deployed to Manus Island is a matter for the PNG Police, not the Australian Government and their remittances and other things are made by the PNG Police in Port Moresby. So that's how those arrangements are made. Now where they are deployed and how closely they're deployed, they're matters that are determined under the jurisdiction of the PNG Police.
Journalist: Because there was a statement yesterday saying that the PNG Police Mobile Squad had been moved away from the centre since the disturbance occurred…
Minister Morrison: Well they are in the vicinity, but those decisions are made by the PNG Police.
Journalist: Is that as a direct result of the disturbance that happened?
Minister Morrison: Well you'd have to put that to the PNG Police. They make the decisions about where their police go, just like in New South Wales, the New South Wales Police decides where their police go.
Journalist: Did the family of Mr Barati give our people in the post in Tehran any more information about him that you can share, like why he wanted to come to Australia or any other details.
Minister Morrison: The information that I have released today I think extends to the full amount of information that is appropriate to release in terms of respecting his privacy and that of the family.
Journalist: There has been some suggestions from people on Manus Island that there were people in the detention centre claiming to be minors. Do you have any information about that?
Minister Morrison: No, it is not the policy of the government for minors to be on Manus Island. Where minors have been identified in the past, they have been promptly moved and to my knowledge there are no minors on Manus Island because that is not the policy of this government. It is not the policy of this government to have children and families on Manus Island. That was the policy of the previous government.
Journalist: In relation to the review into the incursions…
Minister Morrison: Just before we go to those issues, I'm happy to address them, but if we can just stay with Manus Island for a minute or…
Journalist: The Cornall report that was done late last year, what recommendations were taken and adhered to for Manus Island?
Minister Morrison: Well there were a number of recommendations that went to training issues for contractors and English language support. Their issues regarding parts of the compounds which would be reserved for those that are vulnerable, those have been taken up. There are other matters that this government hasn't taken up, which related to access to the centre for media and you know our policies on that and we are not changing our policies.
Journalist: Have you set Robert Cornall a deadline to hand in the investigation.
Minister Morrison: There is a timeframe we would like to achieve which is informal but what I would like him to do is get the job done, get it done effectively and I would hope over the course of the next few months that he will be able to achieve that but if he needs more time to conduct that review to find out what happened then he will get more time.
Journalist: What is the timeframe?
Minister Morrison: Well I have just indicated to you that over the next few months I would like to see this matter at least get to some point of knowledge on this but if that's not possible then it will take longer and he will get support to do that.
Journalist: Can you give us any indication of General Campbell's activities since being at Manus Island and how much longer you anticipate he will be there.
Minister Morrison: Well he is on route now back to Australia so he will have the opportunity to brief me when he returns.
Journalist: Do you take any issue with China's criticism of Australia's treatment of asylum seekers?
Minister Morrison: I will leave those matters to the foreign minister to discuss our relationship with China. I know that Australia fulfils its obligations under its treaties and conventions and we conduct ourselves consistent with our own laws. We are a nation that resettles 13 750 refugees and humanitarian entrants every year and that is something I know Australians support very strongly. We will continue to do that, we will continue to play our role as we do all around the world and in various difficult places, other nations will make comment from time to time. I will leave them to give their explanation for those comments if they wish to but it's not something that is focussing my attention. I am obviously focussing on the issues at Manus, how we are managing the issue there and how we are moving forward there, but also what we are doing at sea, what we are doing in terms of the Parliament here in terms of the temporary protection visas and the full [indistinct] of all of our policies and managing those policies, which as I started this media conference by saying we have now had the longest consecutive period without a single successful people smuggling venture to Australia since before the successful measures of the Howard Government were abolished by the Rudd Government. That is something that I think Australians support, they want to see, they want to see that continue and that is why this government will remain resolute and absolute in the implementations of our policies.
Journalist: You mentioned that there has not been a successful venture, which you seem to suggest is people arriving in Australia or its territories. Can you give us any information about how many boats might be actually leaving Indonesia compared to the numbers that were leaving when you came to government?
Minister Morrison: Well you are very well aware of the government's policies on commenting on those matters.
Journalist: Well that is on water but those boats would be…
Minister Morrison: Well those boats would be on water wouldn't they, by definition. You know our policy on those issues.
Journalist: Given you have said in the past that it is not Australia's policy to incur on other nations and other nation's sovereignty. How would Australia deal with any sort of negative consequences of these reviews to deal with the PNG authorities? What kind of jurisdiction would Australia have when it came to disciplinary action or anything like that if any findings are made against PNG forces or contractors?
Minister Morrison: Well I am not going to get ahead of the review. The reviews need to be undertaken and I am going to wait for those reviews to run their course, not only our review but of course the PNG government and their authorities undertaking their investigations, particularly those ones that have jurisdictional relevance from a justice point of view. So let's work through those reviews. We have a very strong relationship in working through these matters I think, as the last few days have demonstrated. It has been a challenging time but we have been working very closely together. My own department Secretary, General Campbell has been up there, my Deputy Secretary has been there. We have been engaging with the Chief Migration Officer and other senior officials. Our Justice Minister, Mr Keenan, was with the Attorney-General Mr Kalinoe earlier in the week. There has been a lot of collaboration and of course our post has been working feverishly as well to ensure these matters are properly managed and handled.
Journalist: Just to be clear, so the PNG review will look at the role of the PNG locals and authorities and the Australian review will look at the role of the Australian contractors.
Minister Morrison: No, that is not what I said. There is a PNG police investigation that is going into potential criminal behaviour if that is what they find has occurred, and they will follow a normal criminal investigation and that will obviously involve the conduct of autopsies and coronial inquiries as is required. That is what the PNG Government is doing because that's the appropriate judicial response to those incidents. What we are doing is a review into the entire incident so we know what happened and we will be working with them to find out what happened and what needs to be done differently, if anything, to address and further strengthen the centre to deal with any such threats in the future, because people will continue to not want to be at Manus Island. They didn't want to be there when they were first sent there and they wanted to be somewhere else, they wanted to be in Australia because that is what the people smugglers promised them. And so there will naturally and by definition be a tension in these centres because people don't want to be there in the first place and that needs to be managed proactively.
Journalist: Do you expect that Mr Cornall in his investigation will look at things such as recordings that were made by refugee advocates here in Australia? They say they received many calls and information about what happened during the time of the riots. Would you expect that to be part of the review?
Minister Morrison: Look, if anyone has any evidence that they wish to make available then they should and that should always be the case. If refugee advocates have any evidence of people who are thinking of getting onto a people smuggler's boat and they know when that boat might be leaving Indonesia, they should tell us. They never do I've got to tell you. They never do, but they should because that will prevent people getting on those boats and it will prevent them potentially from putting themselves at risk.
Journalist: Do you know if G4S has removed or suspended any locally employed security guards since the incident?
Minister Morrison: I don't have any report of that.
Journalist: Just into the review and those incursions into Indonesian territory, you said that it didn't include any review into allegations that navy vessels turned off lights and went into Indonesian territory, and that ties into operational matters and not wanting to give information to people smugglers. But given that would be against laws at sea, isn't it okay to say that you're not doing that, or are you trying to give the impression to people smugglers you did go to those lengths…
Minister Morrison: Well Tom, there's a lot of narrative in that question, and there's a lot of statement, or comment, as I think they would say on Q&A. I'm not quite sure what the question is in amongst all of that, but at the end of the day there were six incursions. Those incursions were identified, we immediately brought them to the attention of the Indonesian Government, we apologised for those, we conducted a fulsome review, we shared the outcomes of that review with the Government of Indonesia, and we have made the unclassified version of that report and those incidents public, and people can draw their own conclusions from that report.
Journalist: Minister Morrison, you said tantalisingly that no boats had arrived, but that boats had been stopped. Is there anything more you can say about what's actually been going on, and what sort of proportions of boats, or numbers of boats, might still be on their way?
Minister Morrison: Well, our measures are all active. They're all active, and they will continue to be active. You have to be eternally vigilant on these things. It's not like you can have a day's rest when it comes to stopping the boats. We certainly haven't had one, and we're not going to have one, and we'll continue to apply these policies at sea up through the chain. Just this week we hosted the Malaysian Minister for Home Affairs, Dr Zahid, and further developed our relationship and cooperation on these issues. Last year we conducted joint operations in the Malacca Strait, Operation Kangaroo. We have plans for further joint operations along those lines, as well as joint operations involving support, where necessary, to things at the airport and on other border issues. So we work with people up the chain, we work at sea, and we work here, and we don't take a day off ever when it comes to stopping the boats.
Thanks for your time.