Concerns over invalid visa claims being made by plane arrivals into Australia

Tensions have flared after the Home Affairs Minister called the former governments handling of asylum seekers a “complete disaster”.

Concerns have risen over individuals making invalid onshore visa protection claims when arriving into Australia as a war of words over border protection rages on.

The most recent data from the Australian Border Force shows that the the number of asylum seekers arriving into Australia by plane was more than 23,000 in 2023, far less than the number of people travelling by boats.

Following the discovery of at least 39 men who arrived illegally on the coast of north-west WA last week, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil argued that there was far too much focus on the nation’s coastline and flagged concerns about an uptick in invalid claims made by onshore arrivals.

“What we’re increasingly seeing as a problem is people who are making protection visa claims who have no valid basis for making a claim. They’re using it to see how long they can stay in Australia. So this is obviously not good for our migration system,” Ms O’Neil said on Wednesday.

“More importantly, it disadvantages people who are actually refugees who need stability in our country. So that’s why we take this problem so seriously.”

The home affairs minister accused Peter Dutton of telling ‘outright lies’ about border funding on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

After more than two dozen asylum seekers were taken to Nauru after arriving by boat last Friday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused the Albanese government of losing control of Australia’s borders and disputed claims from the ABF commissioner that spending to protect the coastline hadn’t fallen short.

After calling Mr Dutton a “liar” on Tuesday, Ms O’Neil circled back to critique the former government’s handling of asylum policy as a “complete disaster”, claiming that the about 100,000 asylum seekers who had arrived in Australia between 2014 to 2019 were on holiday visas.

“The biggest problem we’ve ever had with this is when he [Dutton] was Home Affairs Minister. He broke records for the number of people who are making onshore PV claims.”

Liberal Senator Jane Hume declared that Labor talked a “big game” about border policy while in opposition.

“We’ve seen the number blowout once they get to government. That’s a new record. I’ve timed it. It took you 3 and a half minutes, Clare, to mention Peter Dutton’s name. He’s gotten well under your skin. He’s a strong Home Affairs Minister. There’ve been so many failures under you,” Senator Hume argued.

“That’s not true,” Ms O’Neil replied.