Peter Dutton's office received an advanced copy of the press release saying Australian Border Force officers would be cracking down on visa fraud but no-one read it, the Immigration Minister says.

The operation in Melbourne was called off on Friday after public outcry over the suggestion Border Force officers would be on the streets of Melbourne "speaking with any individual we cross paths with".

Key points:

• Press release received but not read because it was a routine operation
• PM says people "will never be stopped in the street" and asked for visa details
• ABF Commissioner admits press release was "clumsily worded"

Mr Dutton said his office received the press release but it was neither reviewed nor cleared because the planned operation was routine.

He said there was never any intention for the Border Force to conduct random visa checks during the operation.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott yesterday denied he or his office had prior knowledge of the joint-agency Operation Fortitude, which was cancelled by Victorian police within hours of being announced.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-30/peter-duttons-office-received-border-force-press-release/6735584

 

No matter who decided it was a good idea for the newly uniformed paramilitary types of the Australian Border Force to team up with police to randomly intercept citizens in Melbourne for visa checks this weekend, it was a bad look for the organisation and a black eye for the Abbott government by association.

Operation Ineptitude - its official name having been "Operation Fortitude" - was an ill-conceived debacle from start to... well, to its inevitable abandonment.

 

-------------------

 

Former independent MP Tony Windsor has hit out at a bungled operation that would have seen people stopped for passport checks on the streets of Melbourne, telling ABC radio he had no doubt that some in the Abbott government "hopes that something goes wrong domestically".Speaking on ABC radio national current affairs program AM, Mr Windsor said the Border Force operation was no mistake, but a "deliberate agenda to create fear in the community". 

Mr Windsor said: "I've got no doubt that some of these people in Abbott's government hope that something goes wrong domestically. That they can taunt a Muslim into doing something so that they can say that we're the only ones that can protect you, the Labor party are too weak to protect you, vote for us," he said, adding, "I think that's an extraordinary agenda to go to an election on.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/former-mp-tony-windsor-border-force-patrol-was-a-deliberate-act-to-create-fear-20150828-gjaj8a.html#ixzz3kHif0k4E Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

Yes Tony Windsor... The cartoon at top of course suggest this exactly. The Border Force is the baby of Turdy and it's intentions and actions are those of Turdy, NO MATTER HOW TURDY PROTEST HIS INNOCENCE...

 

 

These BF (Bad Fucup or Border Fiasco) idiots should know that eventually, there is a blood trail. When journos are pissed off for being lied to, they will put their nose to the ground and ask questions. The government has lied from the onset and blamed some badly-wording low level underling when the buck goes directly to Minister Dutton and Turdy himself. But their "departments" try to fudge by saying "we did not know" "we did not read the memo", or the worse of the lot "it was a routine op"... while in fact the Border Fudge would not have tried to act without orders from the top. Hence the toon at top in which Turdy is implanting thoughts into Romanstein...

 

 

The “very, very badly worded” Australian Border Force press release that appeared to threaten random visa checks on the streets of Melbourne was twice sent to the office of the immigration minister, Peter Dutton Guardian Australia has been told.

It was also allegedly cleared at a high level in the border force’s Canberra headquarters.

After the release sparked a snap protest on Friday and forced the Victorian police operation to be abandoned, the border force commissioner, Roman Quaedvlieg, said it had been “cleared at a low level in the organisation”.

But a spokesman for Dutton confirmed on Sunday it had been sent to his office on Wednesday as an attachment to a briefing note about the weekend operation. “It was not opened or read because it looked like a routine operation,” the spokesman said.

Sources later told Guardian Australia a shorter briefing note, again with the press release attached, was sent to Dutton’s office again on Thursday morning. Dutton’s spokesman was contacted for comment.

Quaedvlieg conceded on Friday the media release had been cleared by the Victorian and Tasmanian commander of the border force, Don Smith, who was quoted in the original release saying, “ABF officers will be positioned at various locations around the CBD speaking with any individual we cross paths with,” and, “You need to be aware of the conditions of your visa; if you commit visa fraud you should know it’s only a matter of time before you’re caught out.”

But according to former immigration department officials, including the former communications head Sandi Logan, who say they are informed by current officials close to the issue, the border force assistant secretary for communications and media, Mark Jeffries, also cleared it.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/aug/30/border-force-announcement-went-to-peter-duttons-office-first-official-says

 

Who is going to go first? At the moment there is suggestion that Turdy is going to jettison Joe like a bag of sand from his hot air balloon, because well the economy is crap... Turdy should go first.

But who's going to be the fall guy for the Border Fiasco?...

1) What was the Australian Border Force even planning to do in Melbourne?

The controversy began with a now-infamous press release issued at 9.16am on Friday, in which Don Smith, ABF Regional Commander for Victoria and Tasmania, warned "ABF officers will be speaking with any individual we cross paths with" during a crackdown on visa fraud.

At 1.46pm, following public outrage and protests, the ABF clarified it "does not and will not stop people at random in the streets".

2) Was media misreporting to blame for the controversy?

Scrambling to hose down the story on Friday, the Australian Border Force issued a statement saying it "will not be 'stopping people at random' in Melbourne to 'check people's papers' as reported in media".

This statement implied the media had misreported the stated intent of the operation.

ABF Commissioner Roman Quaedvleig later conceded the press release "incorrectly construed what our role was … it should have been better explained, it was clumsy."

3) Was the press release cleared by those in the Border Force's upper ranks?

Mr Quaedvleig said the press release was "released at the lower levels of the organisation", indicating that he and other senior officials were not to blame for the farce.

But he confirmed Mr Smith signed off on the quotes attributed to him. Mr Smith is the head of the Border Force in Victoria and Tasmania – surely not someone considered to be at the "lower levels of the organisation".

The Guardian Australia has reported that the border force assistant secretary for communications and media, Mark Jeffries, also cleared the statement.

4) Was Mr Dutton involved in issuing the press release and did he have prior knowledge of the Melbourne operation?

Mr Quaedvleig said Mr Dutton's office was "not involved" in issuing the press release, which was "circulated at a regional level in the state of Victoria".

On Friday Fairfax Media asked Mr Dutton's office if he knew in advance of the operation. The reply? "Ministers don't direct operational matters".

On Saturday Mr Abbott sought to distance the government from the press release, saying it went out "at arm's length from the executive government".

"All sorts of press releases go out all the time – but they go out under the authority of the relevant officials, they go out under the authority of the relevant agencies and that all happens at arm's length from ministers," he said.

But later that day it emerged the press release was sent to Mr Dutton's office on Wednesday as an attachment to a briefing note about the operation. It was not opened because it appeared "routine"

The Guardian Australia has reported that a shorter briefing note, with the press release attached, was also sent to Mr Dutton's office on Thursday morning.

5) How extensive was the operation meant to be?

In its original press release, the ABF said the operation would focus on "people travelling to, from and around the CBD" and officers would be "positioned at various locations".

In its clarification, the ABF played down the extent of its involvement, saying while the operation would occur at numerous locations, its officers would be stationed "at only two" of them

6) Was the operation a genuine "first"?

The ABF initially trumpeted the operation as a grand premiere in which "officers will for the first time join forces with a diverse team of transport and enforcement agencies".

On Saturday, Mr Abbott conceded "there was no additional involvement of Australian Border Force in this than is customary in any number of other routine operations" – which begs the question as to why a press release was even issued.

The department also conceded "joint operations of this type are common and were previously conducted by departmental immigration officers".

However the department is yet to answer questions from Fairfax Media about where operations of this type were previously conducted, and if they are planned in future.

7) Has this type of Border Force operation happened in Sydney?

Asked about the Melbourne operation on Friday, NSW Police Minister Troy Grant said "the Border Force already engages in NSW".

"Not just on that issue [visa fraud]. They also go into work places, they also target prostitution et cetera. So they do a range of stuff. So it's just Victoria catching up."

After the operation was cancelled, Mr Grant's office clarified that he was referring only to joint raids of premises such as brothels that have been carried out by NSW Police and immigration officials for many years.

8) Did Labor support the Border Force's powers being used in the way planned for Melbourne?

Asked about the operation on Friday morning, Labor leader Bill Shorten did not immediately condemn it.

"Labor obviously believes in targeting crime," he said.

"I do hope that any of these actions are done to try and protect Australian laws, to make sure that people are not overstaying their visas, to make sure that temporary guest workers are not being exploited."

On Saturday, following the dramatic fallout, Mr Shorten described the operation as "one of the most catastrophically silly ideas I've seen this government do".

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/border-farce-sorting-fact-from-fiction-out-of-government-and-bureaucratic-spin-20150831-gjbfl3.html#ixzz3kMkUPf73 
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

International travellers could face major delays when Australian Border Force staff strike for 24 hours nationwide next month in their escalating stoush with the Federal Government over pay and conditions.

Frontline workers at eight Australian international airports will take the full-day action on Monday, November 9.

The stoppage by union members at the Immigration Department — which includes the Border Force — could see passport and arrival card checks slowed at air and sea ports and delayed baggage and cargo.

Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) secretary Nadine Flood warned it would be "significant industrial action".

"We have made the decision to restart significant industrial action, given that discussions with Government have not produced any meaningful move on cuts to these workers' rights, conditions and take-home pay," Ms Flood said in a statement.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-30/australian-border-force-strike-could-delay-thousands/6897588

 

 See toon at top...

In the midst of the Barnaby Joyce revelations last week, one of Canberra's highest profile public officials reached an inauspicious milestone.

Australian Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg is believed to have now accrued more than $400,000 in salary payments while on leave, as an external investigation into his personal conduct drags on into a new year.

The case of the missing Commissioner who's still on a $619,905 remuneration package is shrouded in mystery, and has again put into sharp focus the standards applied to public officials as opposed to their political masters.

Under Senate estimates questioning last October, then-Immigration Department secretary Mike Pezzullo publicly confirmed the few facts that are known about the ABF's Commissioner's extended paid leave, which is now into at least its ninth month.

"The leave commenced in, I would have to refresh my memory, the latter part of May or possibly the early part of June," Mr Pezzullo told the 2017 parliamentary hearing.

Commissioner Quaedvlieg's alleged relationship with a member of the ABF is being examined by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, but this has never been officially acknowledged.

Read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-13/canberras-other-office-affair-rema...

 

Read from top...