Australia still stopping boats

On one level, given many politicians in Australia have failed to comprehend the basics of border protection during two decades of trauma, it was hardly surprising that the novice New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was so naive on the issue. Yet, having been elected to lead her country last year, she was foolish to implicitly criticise her nation’s largest and closest neighbour over Manus Island and refugee policy. “I see the human face of this and I see the need and the role New Zealand needs to play,” she said in November, mistaking virtue-signalling for national leadership. “I think it’s clear that we don’t see what’s happening there as acceptable, that’s why the offer’s there.” Her criticism of Australia’s policy came with an offer to resettle 150 refugees; it was rejected for fear it would encourage more asylum-seekers.

Ms Ardern was warned that in this volatile area even her ill-informed words could add to the human tragedy. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said boats had previously been stopped in the Torres Strait, planning to track south along Australia’s east coast en route to New Zealand. “We have put many hundreds of millions of dollars into a defence effort to stop those vessels,” he said. “We do that, frankly, without any financial assistance from New Zealand.” Mr Dutton was angered by the intrusion and sent a retort not just across the ditch, but across the seas to prospective people-smugglers. “If new boats arrive tomorrow those people aren’t going to Auckland,” he insisted, “they’re going to Nauru.”

But our exclusive report that boats intercepted last month by Australia and Sri Lanka were bound for New Zealand underlines how Ms Ardern’s unwise intervention might have been counter-productive. Australia’s tough border protection policies have prevented boat arrivals, processed most people from Manus Island and Nauru, and saved countless lives. These efforts must not be undermined by those who have never bothered to understand the forces at play nor the strategies designed to restore order to our immigration system, resettle genuine refugees, put people-smugglers out of business and save desperate lives.