Report finds Border Force was told Scott Morrison wanted to publicise asylum seeker boat on election day

A damning report has shed new light on an election day drama, with an explosive string of text messages being made public.

A damning report has found the Australian Border Force (ABF) was told Scott Morrison wanted the interception of an asylum seeker boat to be publicised on election day, forcing public servants to refuse to “amplify” it on social media.

The report by the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, Michael Pezzullo AO, outlines the decisions of the former government to direct the public announcement of SIEV 915 on the day of the 2022 federal election.

Public servants were told words to the effect of “the Prime Minister wants a statement”.

The report includes an extraordinary text message exchange, with the Morrison government demanding the statement be released as soon as possible.

“Is it live? PM is speaking,” read a text from the Minister of Home Affairs’ Office (MHAO).

“I’m refreshing,” read a reply from the department.

MHAO: “So are we. What on earth is the issue?”

The department: “It always takes a few mins to go live – I have no idea how it works but we can’t influence it. We are calling IT.”

MHAO: “A lot of people are furious.”

The department: “Nothing we can do. Legitimately nothing. So my sincere apologies.”

The report also finds there was pressure placed on officials to release a public statement regarding the interception of the asylum seeker boat “prior to the conclusion of the operational activity”.

“The pressure was exacerbated by the direction to draft and publicise the statement within 15 minutes,” it states.

A mock-up of the text exchange described in the report.

Breaching his own rule against commenting on “on-water matters”, the Mr Morrison then revealed an asylum seeker boat from Sri Lanka had been intercepted, and told voters they “need to vote Liberal and Nationals” to stop future boats.

The Liberal Party then sent text messages to voters warning about the “illegal boat” and urging them to “keep our borders secure by voting Liberal today”.

“I can simply say this. I’ve been here to stop this boat, but in order for me to be there to stop those that may come from here, you need to vote Liberal and Nationals today,” the then-prime minister said on May 21.

Labor’s Home Affairs Minister Clare O‘Neil said the forensic timeline of events surrounding the matter was ”shameful.” She accused the government of a “profound compromise of a military-led operation”, saying it was “without precedent in Australia’s history”.

“The former government had a duty to protect Australia. Instead, they sabotaged the protocols that protect Operation Sovereign Borders for political gain. Their actions undermined the integrity of this complex operation, making it more difficult and dangerous,” she said.

“The report found uniformed Border Force and Defence Force members, and public servants, acted with integrity and at the highest standards at all times. They should be commended for doing so.

“The profound compromise of a military-led operation is without precedent in Australia’s history. It was disgraceful, shameful, and characteristic of a national government which frequently pursued political interests above the national interest.”

The report found that there was pressure placed on officials to release a public statement regarding the interception of the asylum seeker boat ‘prior to the conclusion of the operational activity’.

Public servants were told words to the effect of ‘the Prime Minister wants a statement’, as millions of voters lined up around the country.

Mr Pezzullo was asked to investigate the circumstances that led to the issuance of the public statement on the day of the election.

His report finds that the actions taken by officials were in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions 2021.

“It was for the responsible Minister to determine whether it was in the public interest for the details of the arrival and interception of SIEV 915 to be made public,‘’ he writes.

“In the absence of any statutory provisions governing the matter, the release of this information was a matter of administration in relation to which the Minister could give directions, having regard to their ministerial role.

“The apolitical character of the public service was preserved in this instance by the refusal on the part of Departmental officials to amplify the public statement by sending it directly to journalists and to post it on social media.

“Any domestic amplification was judged by officials to be primarily for political purposes.

“Accordingly, they declined the relevant requests. Had ministerial instructions been given to the effect that the public statement was to be amplified, then a case could have been mounted that such action would have been contrary to the relevant provision of the Public Service Act 1999 (for officials to act at all times apolitically), but this potential conflict between the exercise of ministerial authority and that provision in the Act did not arise as the requests to amplify were not pressed.”

The report suggests that the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet may wish to give consideration to revising the relevant provisions of the Caretaker Conventions, in two material aspects:

– the caretaker conventions do not detract from ministerial authority, and officials are obliged at all times to follow lawful directions; and

– in the ordinary course, sensitive information that is potentially politically significant should not be released publicly during the caretaker period unless a threat to life exists or some other urgency concerning public safety and security is involved.

News.com.au has contacted Mr Morrison‘s office for comment.

Originally published as Report finds Border Force was told Scott Morrison wanted to publicise asylum seeker boat on election day