INTERVIEW - RADIO NATIONAL BREAKFAST WITH FRAN KELLY
20 October 2009
Subjects: Asylum Seekers and Vessel in Distress
KELLY: And Brendan O’Connor is the Home Affairs Minister in the Rudd government. He joins us in our Parliament House studio, Minister good morning.
O’CONNOR: Good morning, Fran.
KELLY: Brendan O’Connor can you confirm the fate of the 78 asylum seekers on board that Custom’s ship The Oceanic Viking is and is Indonesia going to take these people?
O’CONNOR: Well, we’re in, of course, dialogue with the Indonesians as you know Fran. We responded to a call, there were people at risk, there is a particular international convention that requires us to certainly assist in that regard and we, I think, quite rightly provided assistance. It’s been confirmed now, of course, that of the 79, five children and five women were on board and therefore it was important that we had Oceanic Viking provide that form of assistance. We’ve also, I think, properly assessed the medical, the medical situation and everyone seems to be fine. We are now in discussions with the Indonesians in order to ensure the way in which to resolve this matter.
KELLY: Why are we in discussion with Indonesians? Why don’t we just bring the people on board the Australian Customs ship to the Australian detention centre?
O’CONNOR: Well as may, as I’ve already made clear, we’ve responded to a distress call that was entirely proper. The Indonesian authorities were informed by the Australian Safety Maritime Authority as they are the lead agency because it’s in their waters, and as a result we are working with them. They are the lead co coordinator of this particular matter …
KELLY: So, what’s the message coming from Indonesia? Are they prepared to take these people?
O’CONNOR: Well, that’s something that’s currently under consultation; clearly we work very closely with the Indonesians in relation to these matters. There’s been close cooperation between Indonesia and Australia in relation to people smuggling but also in relation to such maritime situations.
KELLY: There are reports today in some of the press that Indonesia has signalled it will take them; can you give us a sense, is that likely? Are you confident Indonesia will take these people?
O’CONNOR: Can I say to you that until there’s a confirmation as to the outcome of the process I’m not in a position to do so. What I am in position to tell you, Fran, is that we are working very closely with the Indonesians. They are the lead agency in relation to this particular situation. But it was incumbent upon us, I believe, to provide support to those passengers who we were told were in danger. Now, we’ve confirmed that all are safe we’ll deal with this matter properly and calmly and will do so in consultation with the Indonesian authority.
KELLY: Will a decision be made on this do you think before the Prime Minister meets with his Indonesian counterpart later today?
O’CONNOR: Look, this will be something that will be resolved between the agencies of both countries. The priority here is to make sure that those passengers are safe and that we do everything that is proper but I cannot confirm whether that will be before or after the President and the Prime Minister meet.
KELLY: In the end, if Indonesia says a flat out no will these people come to Christmas Island?
O’CONNOR: Well that’s a hypothetical question you’re putting to me. I’m saying to you that we’ll… let’s now allow the agencies discuss the arrangements here. Again, I want to emphasis how closely Indonesian and Australian agencies cooperate. We’ve been tackling these issues for some years now, it was the case under the previous government, and we want to make sure that we do this properly and calmly and not cause any concern for both the passengers and those who are watching this unfortunate incident.
KELLY: Are we heading back to an operation relic situation in Australia, as your Home Affairs Minister. Are we going to deploy more naval boats to turn ships around as the Howard government did?
O’CONNOR: Well what we’ve done so far in relation to the surge of people seeking to find haven in first world countries as a result of conflicts in particular in Afghanistan and the civil war in Sri Lanka, is to provide more assets to intercept successfully those vessels that are seeking to enter our Territorian waters …
KELLY: So more naval ships out there doing that work?
O’CONNOR: Well, we’ve always had, we’ve had the Bay Class vessels and the Armidale’s which, of course, are naval vessels working under the Customs and Boarder Protection Command ensuring that we successfully intercept vessels. That has been the government’s approach from the beginning and we’ve added more assets so we have more surveillance, both aircraft and vessel, than ever before and that’s why we’ve intercepted these vessels successfully.
KELLY: Are we intensifying that?
O’CONNOR: Well, we’ve added, as I’ve said, we’ve added extra vessels as a result of the initiative taken by the government. We’ll continue to ensure that our waters are surveilled effectively because we want to make sure we maintain the integrity of out border and maintain the integrity of the immigration system.
KELLY: Meanwhile Minister, these 250 people aboard that boat in Java, will Australia, can you tell us whether Australia is pressuring Indonesia to allow the UNHCR reps on to the, on to that ship stuck at port.
O’CONNOR: Well, in relation to those people on the vessel at Merak, as you know six or seven days ago now the Indonesians intercepted that vessel. It was in Indonesian waters, the Indonesian government made very clear that they were concerned about people smuggling as a result they’ve intercepted that vessel. It’s now for the Indonesians to determine the proper process but they have confirmed that they will be cooperating with international agencies and indeed as you would know, we’ve been funding and providing support to the international organisation of migration and the UNHCR in Indonesia for some years and we, of course, want to see that such matters are dealt with properly. But it is now a matter for the Indonesian government.
KELLY: Indonesia is not a signatory to the Human Rights Convention on Refugees, the International Convention on Refugees, if we want Indonesia to take more asylum seeks on our behalf, and as I understand it this is part of the negotiation with the Indonesian President today, shouldn’t we be pressuring Indonesia to sign up to those international conventions to ensure that people get treated appropriately, resettled more quickly.
O’CONNOR: Well, can I say that the Indonesians will determine what they are signatory to, of course …
KELLY: Yes, but we pressure and lobby and …
O’CONNOR: Sure.
KELLY: … cajole countries all the time, will that be on the table?
O’CONNOR: And can I say to you that in relation to how Indonesians will approach this, so far I’m confident that they will do the right thing here, clearly they’ve been concerned about the safety and the, and ensuring that people on the vessel are dealt with properly. As I …
KELLY: Though they still haven’t had access to the UNHCR as requested.
O’CONNOR: But can I say now that the Indonesians will deal with this matter. We, of course, believe that the international agencies have a role here. It’s for that reason we’ve supported and provided resources to the UNHCR and provided humanitarian relief to people that are in Indonesia. Now that’s important but in the end the Indonesians have to determine whether in fact they’re signatories to any particular convention.
KELLY: And, just finally, Minister, Alex the face of the Sri Lankan asylum seekers on board that boat in Merak said that the chief people smuggler whose now been arrested said he wasn’t worried about being arrested because he could always buy his way out of an Indonesian prison and now we’ve heard on AM this morning one Indonesian official saying that they knew that this guy, this people smuggler was aboard that ship, they knew before Australia alerted them. Are you worried that, sends a, or indicates that Indonesian authorities aren’t being as robust as they could be?
O’CONNOR: Well, the Indonesians …
KELLY: … to the people smugglers?
O’CONNOR: Well in relation to the person so called Captain Bram who’s been detained by the Indonesian navy, they’ve made clear now that they’re concerned with his behaviour. Let’s not forget it was the Indonesian authority that jailed this person for up to 2 years as a result of people smuggling activities and I’m very confident that the Indonesian authorities will deal with this person appropriately.
KELLY: Okay, Brendan O’Connor thank you very much for joining us.
O’CONNOR: Thanks, Fran.
KELLY: Brendan O’Connor is the Home Affairs Minister.
