Raid on Vanuatu diplomat a case of ‘fishing’

The ABF was on ‘a fishing expedition’ to gain information about a foreign diplomat when it unlawfully targeted him with a search warrant, a Senate inquiry has heard.

The phone records of Vanuatu high commissioner Samson Fare were seized last year by the ABF.

The Australian Border Force was on “a fishing expedition” to gain information about a foreign diplomat when it unlawfully targeted him with a search warrant, a Senate inquiry has heard.

The phone records of Vanuatu high commissioner Samson Fare were seized last year by the ABF in a raid on the Bundaberg home of Christian missionary Geoff Smith, who was suspected of having helped Pacific Islander workers abscond from their approved employers.

At a Senate inquiry on Wednesday ABF assistant commissioner Phil Brezzo refused to discuss key details of the case, ­including what records belonging to the envoy were held by the force and what legal advice it had received before launching the raid.

The ABF obtained a warrant in July last year to search Mr Smith’s house and seize any material relating to seven named people, including Mr Fare, with whom he had been in frequent contact over the treatment of ni-Vanuatu farm workers by labour hire companies.

On Tuesday The Australian revealed that ABF commissioner Michael Outram was briefed on the raid on the day it took place, and that both his deputies were aware of who was named on the warrant.

Nine ABF officers raided the property, downloading the contents of Mr Smith’s phone, including his contacts with Mr Fare. Mr Smith said the phone contained “massive amounts” of texts and emails between him and Mr Fare.

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which is part of Australian law, a diplomat’s correspondence and documents enjoy inviolability.

On Wednesday Mr Brezzo agreed that he had raised the “sensitivities” of the case at a meeting with Mr Outram on the morning of the raid.

“I raised it as case that was a little bit unusual, it certainly isn’t common, having members of the diplomatic community in any way associated with any of the warrants,” he said.

Labor senator Tony Sheldon said there had been a clear breach of the Vienna Convention and Australian law.

“There’s been a fishing expedition around people like Geoff Smith and individuals that have been escaping horrendous conditions,” he said.

Senator Sheldon asked if Mr Smith’s activities in protecting seasonal workers from exploita­tion and Mr Fare’s interest in the welfare of Vanuatu citizens explained why he was on the warrant.

Mr Brezzo declined to answer on the grounds “this matter relates to an ongoing investigation, there is detail I can’t go into”.

Senator Sheldon said he was concerned that any diplomats speaking out on behalf of their nationals in Australia could now be subject to a search warrant.

“Do you understand the dampening effect of that, when we’ve got the ABF going after high commissioners?” he asked.

“No one was going after the high commissioner; he is not and has never been the subject of the investigation,” Mr Brezzo said.

Asked if the ABF had Mr Fare’s communications from Mr Smith’s mobile phone, Mr Brezzo again said he could not reveal anything that might compromise an ongoing investigation.

Mr Brezzo said the ABF was satisfied it had not acted unlawfully by including the name of the high commissioner in the warrant and that he had “received legal advice about reaching the conclusion we haven’t breached the act”.