People pirates cast eye on Kiwis
HOME Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has warned New Zealand is now being marketed as a destination by people smugglers after a boat was intercepted by Malaysian authorities.
The boatload of 131 Sri Lankans, believed to be heading for Australia or New Zealand, was intercepted when authorities halted the modified tanker last Tuesday off the coast of southern Johor state.
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 said in Canberra yesterday, while thanking Malaysian authorities.
“New Zealand is now being marketed as a definite destination,” he said. Mr Dutton said New Zealand was the only country where you could have a visa into Australia on arrival.
“The people smugglers understand that, I don’t understand why Labor can’t,” he said. The minister said parties needed to be careful about putting New Zealand in the policy mix because it became 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 New Zealand 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,” Mr Dutton said.
Former Australian Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg took to social media to say New Zealand was being marketed by people smugglers as soon as Operation Sovereign Borders was established.
“There was only ever one vessel intercepted south of PNG that was capable of
NEW ZEALAND IS NOW BEING MARKETED (BY PEOPLE SMUGGLERS) AS A DEFINITE DESTINATION PETER DUTTON
reaching NZ physically and with an experienced crew; this one also looks like it could have,” he tweeted.
Mr Dutton also used the interception to push Labor to oppose a proposal for a 90-day limit on holding asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru.
Police also raided a fishing boat used to transport the migrants to the vessel and detained three Indonesians and four Malaysians on board.
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.