Dutton says people-smugglers marketing New Zealand as destination

Jacinda Ardern says NZ is not an easy target for people-smugglers, as Peter Dutton says it is being marketed as a ‘back door’.

The rusty tanker, Etra, near Kota Tinggi in Malaysia.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said her country is not an easy target for people-smugglers, as Peter Dutton said boat operators were marketing NZ as a back door into Australia.

Their comments today followed the interception of a people-smuggling boat off the coast of Malaysia.

The modified tanker was carrying 131 Sri Lankans when it was halted off the coast of southern Johor state on Tuesday last week.

The boatload of 98 men, 24 women, four boys and five girls was believed to be bound for Australia or New Zealand.

Immigration and Border Protection Minister Mr Dutton said the type of boat, its size and the people involved all pointed to a sophisticated operation, which had the potential to reach New Zealand. Those responsible are well known, he told reporters in Canberra, while thanking Malaysian authorities.

“Some people it seems have been told different stories about their destination,” Mr Dutton said. “New Zealand is now being marketed as a definite destination.”

Because of Australia’s close ties with New Zealand, travellers who arrive in New Zealand immediately qualify for an Australian visa.

The modified tanker intercepted by Malaysian authorities.

In New Zealand, Ms Ardern said the focus needed to be on preventing the boats from ever leaving port.

“Unscrupulous people with no integrity will promote either destination for their financial benefit, without necessarily those victims involved having any sense of the reality of either country,” the Prime Minister said.

Australia has stopped asylum-seekers from attempting to reach its shores aboard boats by refusing to allow boat arrivals to ever resettle on the Australian mainland. Australia pays Nauru and Papua New Guinea to keep asylum-seekers from Asia, the Middle East and Africa in immigration camps indefinitely.

New Zealand doesn’t have similar policies but Ms Ardern said that didn’t make the country an easy target.

“Our laws around people-smugglers are strict, they carry a heavy penalty, and those individuals would be pursued if they ever were in New Zealand waters,” she said.

Mr Dutton used the intercepted vessel to attack Labor’s approach to border protection.

He pushed Labor to oppose a proposal for a 90-day limit on holding asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru, claiming Bill Shorten was “talking out both sides of his mouth” on offshore detention.

He said New Zealand was the only country in the world where you can have a visa into Australia on arrival.

“The people-smugglers understand that and I don’t understand why Labor can’t get it,” Mr Dutton said.

The minister said parties need to be careful about putting New Zealand in the policy mix because it becomes the “sugar” on the table.

He stopped short of claiming New Zealand ought to accept any blame for the intercepted vessel due to its own border policies, but said the Ardern government now understood “the gravity of this situation”.

“What I would say is that anybody, when they’re talking about these matters, needs to be careful and circumspect about what it is that they’re saying because it will be interpreted a particular way by people-smugglers who are pumping out messages through social media, sending text messages out to prospective customers.

“By Bill Shorten being out there saying that New Zealand is on the table, people realise that New Zealand is a back doorway into Australia. They realise New Zealand is a comparable society to Australia. It has a similar welfare system, similar health, education offerings, housing, et cetera. It is marketed in the same way that Australia is as a positive destination.”

Labor immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann claimed Mr Dutton was playing into the hands of people-smugglers and criminals by his comments on the opposition’s border protection policies.

“Labor believes in strong borders, offshore processing, regional resettlement and turn-backs when safe to do so because we know it saves lives at seas,” Mr Neumann said.

“Shame on Peter Dutton and the Liberals for undermining Labor’s strong position on border protection and encouraging the people smugglers to restart their vile trade.”

Mr Neumann said the government should be able to negotiate a resettlement deal with New Zealand akin to one struck with the United States.

The head of Australia’s military-led border security operations warned against any attempts to water down the current hardline policy.

Air Vice-Marshal Stephen Osborne, the commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, appeared alongside Mr Dutton today and appeared to take an unusual step into the political realm when asked whether he shared the minister’s concerns that “the boats will restart” under Labor.

“The most appropriate (thing) for me to say is Operation Sovereign Borders has been very successful now — it is almost four years without venture,” he told reporters.

“It’s built on a very particular structure and if we make any changes to that structure, I would have some concerns, and we will leave it at that.”

Air Vice-Marshal Osborne described the ship stopped by the Malaysians as a “much larger vessel than we’ve seen for some time” and the smuggling operation as “far more complex and sophisticated” than previous attempts.

Malaysian police also raided a fishing boat used to transport the migrants to the vessel and detained three Indonesians and four Malaysians on board, Malaysian police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement. Another five Malaysians were arrested for suspected involvement in the smuggling syndicate.

A total of 127 Sri Lankans will be charged for entering Malaysia illegally while nine Malaysians, four Indonesians and four Sri Lankans will be investigated for human smuggling.

AAP/AP