Election 2022: Albanese visa vow ‘will trigger’ the boats, says Karen Andrews

Anthony Albanese’s pledge to abolish temporary protection visas will ‘give a green light to the people smugglers starting up again’, says Karen Andrews.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Anthony Albanese’s pledge to abolish temporary protection visas will “give a green light to the people smugglers starting up again”, with Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews warning that removing TPVs could trigger a new wave of boat arrivals.

After the Opposition Leader on Thursday defended his support for boat turnbacks, which he previously opposed, Ms Andrews said decisions by former Liberal prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott to introduce TPVs helped reduce hundreds of boat arrivals.

As the government increased pressure on Mr Albanese over his historic positions on border protection policy, the Labor leader said every member of his caucus supported turnbacks.

Mr Albanese said he had changed his 2015 view that “if people were in a boat including families and children, I myself couldn’t turn that around”.

Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips, whose NSW south coast seat is under threat from the Coalition, said her previous opposition to turnbacks had also changed.

“There’s been two national conferences since then. And as an MP, I absolutely support Labor’s policy,” she said.

Despite Labor’s support for Operation Sovereign Borders, regional offshore processing and boat turnbacks, Mr Albanese last week confirmed he would scrap TPVs if he won the May 21 election.

Ms Andrews on Thursday said Labor’s commitment to abolish TPVs was an admission they are “happy for the boats to start coming again”.

“Temporary protection visas are a cornerstone piece of Australia’s border protection policies,” she said. “The evidence is clear – if you get rid of temporary protection visas, you give a green light to the people smugglers starting up again.

“Labor say they support Operation Sovereign Borders but oppose TPVs – but you can’t have one without the other.”

Ms Andrews said that after former prime minister Kevin Rudd abolished TPVs in 2008, annual boat arrivals rose from seven to 300. When Mr Abbott reintroduced TPVs following the 2013 election, boat arrivals fell from 300 to one within one year.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the Coalition attacks on Labor over TPVs was misguided.

“Temporary protection visas … no matter how much the Coalition and Mr Morrison want to try and make this an issue, these are visas which were given to people who arrived before the Sovereign Borders policy framework came into place,” she said.

“These are people who have been in place in Australia for over a decade. And … it is not a sensible position nor a good use of resources, to have them reapply for their visas every few years.

“They are people who are working here, and who employ people here, and they came before Operation Sovereign Borders was put in place.”

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre this week said TPVs and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas were “policy failures and must be abolished”.

“Over recent days in the run-up to the election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that maintaining these visas is a key policy area. These visas are unnecessary and cruel, preventing family reunion, limiting access to education and denying stable employment,” it said.