Mr ADAMSON - 1994-11-22
No doubt, the Chief Minister is aware of the unannounced arrival of a number of refugees at the Nightcliff jetty this morning. What does he intend to do about this unexpected boost to the city's population?
ANSWER
Together with other members of this Assembly, I am sure, I was alarmed to hear on this morning's news that there had been a landing of illegal immigrants in Nightcliff last night and that they were detected as a result of one of them being picked up by a passing motorist.
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Mr Ede: He telephoned a taxi.
Mr PERRON: For that reason, it was brought to the knowledge of the police and, no doubt, the federal authorities who then took appropriate action. Nevertheless, it is of great concern to us all that such an incident could occur in our urban environment. I propose to write this day to the Prime Minister to express grave concern that such an incident could occur and ask that he examine the resources that are necessary to ensure that it cannot recur.
Australia has an enormous coastline by world standards. It probably would be impossible to police it to the point where no landings ever occurred along our coast. However, it is a concern that vessels which have not passed any quarantine checks are landing in urban areas. There is a problem not only of people with questionable health but also the possibility of animals and insects being brought in. They were detected by citizens when supposedly there is a series of barriers around our coastline, in particular around places like Darwin, to prevent such an occurrence. At the moment, we have anchored in our harbour, only 2 km or 3 km from where we stand, about 40 vessels that contain fishermen and personnel who are quarantined in that area until such time as they are processed or prosecuted. I am told that, in a recent 10-day period, Coastwatch monitored in or near the Australian fishing zone no fewer than 580 small Indonesian fishing vessels which were sighted and logged in order to monitor their activities the future.
The situation is such that the federal government needs to take a fresh look at the arrangements it has in place and the resources it has available in the north of Australia to ensure that these incidents do not continue to happen. I have no reason to believe that Customs is not doing everything it possibly can with the personnel and vessels that it has available here. I must refer to a small matter here. If the vessel available to the poor fellow who works for Australian Quarantine or Customs, and who is on site 24 hours a day around the 40 vessels in our harbour at present, is an example of the resources of Customs, that leaves much to be desired. I was on the harbour at the weekend and briefly made contact with this person. The resources available to him to do his job are simply a disgrace.
I will write to the Prime Minister today. I have asked my department to draft the appropriate letter, pointing out a series of events, including the unexpected seizure of $250m-worth of heroin a few miles from Darwin only a few months ago. I believe the vessel in question broke down or ran out of fuel near the Tiwi islands otherwise it may well have reached its destination without being detected. We now have a situation whereby illegal immigrants are wandering Darwin streets. If we wanted to be lighthearted about it, these people could set up stalls with some canvas and a wok at the Mindil Beach Markets on Thursday nights and we would not even know that they were illegal immigrants. It is coming that close to home and we should all be concerned about it.
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ANSWER
Together with other members of this Assembly, I am sure, I was alarmed to hear on this morning's news that there had been a landing of illegal immigrants in Nightcliff last night and that they were detected as a result of one of them being picked up by a passing motorist.
Page 275
Mr Ede: He telephoned a taxi.
Mr PERRON: For that reason, it was brought to the knowledge of the police and, no doubt, the federal authorities who then took appropriate action. Nevertheless, it is of great concern to us all that such an incident could occur in our urban environment. I propose to write this day to the Prime Minister to express grave concern that such an incident could occur and ask that he examine the resources that are necessary to ensure that it cannot recur.
Australia has an enormous coastline by world standards. It probably would be impossible to police it to the point where no landings ever occurred along our coast. However, it is a concern that vessels which have not passed any quarantine checks are landing in urban areas. There is a problem not only of people with questionable health but also the possibility of animals and insects being brought in. They were detected by citizens when supposedly there is a series of barriers around our coastline, in particular around places like Darwin, to prevent such an occurrence. At the moment, we have anchored in our harbour, only 2 km or 3 km from where we stand, about 40 vessels that contain fishermen and personnel who are quarantined in that area until such time as they are processed or prosecuted. I am told that, in a recent 10-day period, Coastwatch monitored in or near the Australian fishing zone no fewer than 580 small Indonesian fishing vessels which were sighted and logged in order to monitor their activities the future.
The situation is such that the federal government needs to take a fresh look at the arrangements it has in place and the resources it has available in the north of Australia to ensure that these incidents do not continue to happen. I have no reason to believe that Customs is not doing everything it possibly can with the personnel and vessels that it has available here. I must refer to a small matter here. If the vessel available to the poor fellow who works for Australian Quarantine or Customs, and who is on site 24 hours a day around the 40 vessels in our harbour at present, is an example of the resources of Customs, that leaves much to be desired. I was on the harbour at the weekend and briefly made contact with this person. The resources available to him to do his job are simply a disgrace.
I will write to the Prime Minister today. I have asked my department to draft the appropriate letter, pointing out a series of events, including the unexpected seizure of $250m-worth of heroin a few miles from Darwin only a few months ago. I believe the vessel in question broke down or ran out of fuel near the Tiwi islands otherwise it may well have reached its destination without being detected. We now have a situation whereby illegal immigrants are wandering Darwin streets. If we wanted to be lighthearted about it, these people could set up stalls with some canvas and a wok at the Mindil Beach Markets on Thursday nights and we would not even know that they were illegal immigrants. It is coming that close to home and we should all be concerned about it.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016