Home Affairs Minister Clare O‘Neil slams Morrison government’s election day actions

The Morrison government has been told to ‘hang their heads in shame’ and ‘apologise’ over a major election day issue.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Clare O‘Neil has slammed the former coalition government, saying they need to “hang their heads in shame” and “apologise” after information about the arrival of an asylum seeker boat was publicly sent out on election day.

It comes after a damming report by the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Michael Pezzullo AO found the Morrison government demanded a statement on the boat be released as soon as possible.

The report said there was “pressure placed on officials to release a public statement regarding the interception … prior to the conclusion of the operational activity” and “the pressure was exacerbated by the direction to draft and publish the statement within 15 minutes”.

It also said department officials had to refuse requests to “amplify the public statement by sending it directly to journalists and to post it on social media”.

The offices of former prime minister Scott Morrison and former home affairs minister Karen Andrews have had their election day actions revealed in a new report. Picture: AAP Image / David Mariuz

Ms O’Neil called the former government’s actions “a profoundly disgraceful set of activities” that “undermined” national interest.

“The former government had a duty to protect Australians. Instead their actions on election day fundamentally undermined our democracy,” she said on Saturday.

“They undermined the integrity of an operation that is difficult, dangerous and that was part way through implementation.

“They pressured uniformed officers to break with democratic protocols that protect all of us in this country and in doing so they clearly prioritise their own political interests over the national interest.”

Ms O’Neil called on the Morrison government to “apologise” and show “shame” for their actions.

“The former government need to hang their heads in shame and come forward and apologise and explain why it is that they chose to compromise the work of Defence Force officials in this disgraceful way,” she said.

“What I would like to see from the former government is some sense of shame about their activities.”

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the coalition government should apologise for their actions. Picture: AAP / Julian Smith

It comes after former home affairs minister Karen Andrews defended her role in the issue and the government’s actions, saying that issuing a statement was “appropriate”.

“I was asked by the Prime Minister (Scott Morrison) to issue the statement and that is exactly what I did,” she told the Today Show on Saturday.

“I asked clearly for the statement to be put out in a very situational awareness type of report, so it really just stuck to the facts.

“The report makes it very clear that there was no breach of caretaker conventions.

“I don‘t recall that there has ever been a boat that has been intercepted on election day … I think it was appropriate to make sure that there was a very clear statement put out.”

Ms Andrews also said “there was absolutely no pressure put on the department” by the former government.

Former home affairs minister Karen Andrews said the department was not pressured. Picture: Mike Batterham

But Ms O’Neil accused her of lying, saying her comments raised a “series of further questions”.

“This morning, the former minister for home affairs Karen Andrews came forward and told lies about her actions on that day and raised a series of further questions about the interactions of the then Prime Minister‘s Office and her office in relation to the report that was released,” she said.

“What I would like to say to the opposition today is that you need to do better. This report shows that the former government had after nine years completely lost its moral compass and had completely lost the ability to distinguish between the national interest and their political interest.”