Border patrol personnel at 'breaking point'

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Created on Wednesday, 31 October 2012 16:37

Written by Editorial staff

The Gillard government's border protection policy has again come under the spotlight with Customs and Border Protection personnel being "driven to breaking point"by constant arrivals of asylum seekers without any immigration visas or paperwork, according to shadow minister for immigration and citizenship Scott Morrison.

"A border protection force under siege because of Labor's failure is not only dangerous for the men and women who give their all in protecting us; it's also dangerous for our national security.
"Labor just isn't serious about protecting our borders," he said.

He says that the Border Protection Command is stretched as it must cover from the Australian mainland all the way to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and everywhere in between.

The stretch on resources means that some vessels are being overused just to deal with the constant flow of arrivals and the navy is being forced to be used as a form of water-taxi.

He says the need to take focus off other areas of immigration, such as customs, and deal with other maritime security issues is putting at risk the security of the country.

In addition to this, the never ceasing arrivals means that any hope of a budget surplus is waning on a daily basis, he says.

"When questioned in parliament today about the rising costs on our borders, the prime minister refused to guarantee that Labor would deliver a surplus budget in the current year, as the failures on our borders continue," he said.

The current federal government implemented a raft of recommendations regarding border policy after a review panel in August found that the measures in place at the time failed to address the problem of illegal arrivals.

The Pacific Solution under the Howard government stemmed the flow of boats but was then repealed in 2008 under the prime ministership of Kevin Rudd and the number of arrivals has increased from that point.

It comes as reports are out that Nauruans working on detention facilities are earning $4 an hour to work on the centres - ten times less than Australians working on the facility.

Mr Morrison says that this is because the federal government is facing a budgeting issue as it cannot contain the continuous flow of boats and it is affecting other areas. He says that the government is unable to be honest with the Australian people about how much this border policy costs, as the figure would be astronomical.