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Showing posts with label Peter Dutton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Dutton. Show all posts
Sunday 2 September 2018
Peter Dutton and the French au pair
On 17 June 2015
then Australian Minister for Immigration and Border Protection & Liberal MP
for Dickson Peter Dutton overturned
a departmental decision to classify the holder of an e-Visa as “an
unlawful non-citizen” - allowing Alexandra Deuwel entry into
Australia and supplying her with a tourist visa despite her declaration that she intended to work during her stay.
The
Australian Government has unsuccessfully attempted to hide details of the minister’s
decision.
The
Guardian, 3
August 2018:
The Australian
government spent more than $10,000 in taxpayer cash fighting a legal battle to
keep documents secret about the home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s decision
to save two foreign au pairs from deportation.
The visa status of the two
unknown young women has
been in the spotlight since March, when it was revealed that Dutton used
his powers of ministerial discretion to grant them visas on public interest
grounds.
In the first case, an au
pair whose visa was cancelled at Brisbane’s international airport in June 2015
was able to make a phone call and within a couple of hours the minister
approved a new visa.
In November the same
year, Dutton defied written warnings from his own department that granting a
visa to a second au pair was of “high risk” because she had been previously
counselled about work restrictions.
Dutton insists he
doesn’t know the two individuals involved and that they didn’t work for his
family.
The
Guardian, 28
August 2018:
The home affairs
minister, Peter
Dutton, saved an au pair from deportation, intervening after the AFL’s
chief executive officer, Gillon McLachlan, raised the young woman’s case.
Guardian Australia
understands that a French woman named Alexandra Deuwel was detained at
Adelaide’s international airport late on 31 October 2015.
Her tourist visa was
cancelled at the border because there were suspicions she intended to work and
she had previously been counselled over visa conditions during an earlier stay
in Australia.
Deuwel had previously
worked for McLachlan’s relatives Callum and Skye MacLachlan in South
Australia and was returning to visit them. Callum MacLachlan is joint managing
director of the cattle and sheep company Jumbuck Pastoral.
An AFL official,
who works for Gillon McLachlan, is understood to have contacted Dutton’s chief
of staff, Craig Maclachlan, on behalf of Callum regarding the former au
pair’s situation. Although related to Gillon McLachlan, Callum’s side of the
family spells its name differently. Craig Maclachlan is not related to either
Callum or Gillon.
On the eve of a
ministerial visit to Zaatari, a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, Dutton was
alerted to the case, by Craig Maclachlan. He used his discretion powers under
the Migration Act to grant the young woman a tourist visa on public interest
grounds within 24 hours of her arrival. The visa was granted on the condition
she undertake no paid work.
In freedom
of information documents released on Tuesday to the ABC, Dutton gives
his reason for Deuwel’s visa allowance.
“Having regard to this
person’s particular circumstances and personal characteristics, I have decided
to exercise my discretionary powers under section 195A of the (migration) act
as it would be in the public interest to grant this person a visa.
“In the circumstances, I
have decided, that as a discretionary and humanitarian act to an individual,
with ongoing needs it is in the interests of Australia as a humane and generous
society to grant this person a visitor visa (subclass 600) for a period of
three months.”….
A former department
official said what horrified frontline airport personnel most about the au pair
cases was that their decisions were being “overruled so quickly and at such a
senior level for such a trivial matter”….
On 28 August 2018 this
article was amended. A previous version said it was not known whether Craig
Maclachlan was related to relatives of Gillon McLachlan. Peter Dutton’s office
has since said they are not related.
Minister for Home Affairs Peter
Dutton issued a somewhat choleric response to media reports on 28 August 2018:
Saturday 1 September 2018
Quote of the Week
“This
country would throw itself in the sea if it wasn't already girt by it.” [Freelance journalist Andrew Stafford’s 17
August 2018 tweeted
response to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s removal of a climate
change target from the National Energy Guarantee,
"sitting on the lap of the
member for Warringah [Abbott] like a really scary wooden puppet come to life.
With the hand of the member for Warringah up his... back. Like Chucky." [Labor MP for Sydney & Deputy Leader of
the Opposition Tanya Plibersek on the subject of Liberal MP for Dickson Peter Dutton, Twitter,
21 August 2018]
Thursday 9 August 2018
Is Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton value for money?
Australia's millionaire Minister for Home Affairs and Liberal MP for Dickson Peter Dutton has gathered to himself a lucrative salary worth in the vicinity of $478,068 per annum, before any parliamentary entitlements are realised.
The Prime Minister's annual salary is only a little under $50,000 more than this, while the U.S, President's annual salary is apparently around AU$70,000 less than Dutton's annual payment for services rendered.
So is Peter Dutton giving taxpayers value for the revenue dollars they supply.
It honestly doesn't appear to be the case if this audit is any indication.
Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), Report
No.45 2017–18 The
Integration of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the
Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, excerpts:
On
18 July 2017, the Prime Minister announced that the government had
decided to establish a Home Affairs portfolio which would have responsibility
for:
federal
law enforcement;
national
security;
transport
security;
criminal
justice;
emergency
management;
immigration
and multicultural affairs; and
border-related
functions.
The Department of Home
Affairs has assumed all of the department’s functions (including the ABF) in
addition to functions from each of the Departments of Prime Minister and
Cabinet; Social Services; Infrastructure and Regional Development and the
Attorney-General’s department.
In addition to the ABF,
the Home Affairs portfolio also includes the following entities:
the
Australian Federal Police;
the
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission;
the
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre; and
the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. …..
Conclusion
10. The Department of
Immigration and Border Protection achieved the integration of DIBP and ACBPS
and the creation of the Australian Border Force in a structural sense and is
also progressing with the implementation of a suite of reform projects.
However, it is not
achieving commitments made to government in relation to additional revenue, and
is not in a position to provide the government with assurance that the claimed
benefits of integration have been achieved.
11. The department
established largely effective governance arrangements which were revised over
time in response to emerging issues.
12. The department’s record keeping
continues to be poor.
13. The department is
effectively managing a suite of 38 capability reform projects and has developed
sound monitoring arrangements, although the Executive Committee does not have
visibility of the overall status of individual projects.
14. The efficiency
savings committed to by the department were removed from its forward estimates
and have thus been incorporated in the budget. However, the department has not verified whether
efficiencies have been delivered in the specific areas which were nominated in
the Integration Business Case.
15. Based on progress to
the end of December 2017, if
collections continue at the current rate the department will only collect 31.6
per cent of the additional customs duty revenue to which it committed in the
Integration Business Case.
16. In the Integration
Business Case, the department committed to a detailed Benefits Realisation
Plan. The plan was not implemented despite several reviews identifying this
omission. As a result, the
department cannot demonstrate to the government that the claimed benefits of
integration have been achieved….
18. Reporting to the
Executive focused primarily on integration and organisational reform, with
minimal coverage of progress in delivery of the suite of 38 capability reform
projects. Following the identification of this as a gap in the 2017 Gateway
Review, an Enterprise Transformation Blueprint was established to provide the
Executive Committee with greater visibility over the progress of activity
across the department.
19. There was no evidence
identified to indicate that written briefings were provided to the Minister on
progress throughout the implementation process.
20. Detailed
communication plans were established and implemented to support the integration
process. ‘Pulse Check’ surveys were regularly taken to evaluate staff
satisfaction and engagement with the process.
21. The audit found that the
department did not maintain adequate records of the integration process. This
finding repeats the outcomes of a substantial number of audits and reviews
going back to 2005. The department’s own assessment is that its records and
information management is in a critically poor state. The problems and
their solutions are known to the department, and it has an action plan to
address them, although numerous previous attempts to do so have not been
successful.
22. The department also
experienced a loss of corporate memory due to the level of turn-over of SES
staff, with almost half of SES officers present in July 2015 no longer in the
department at July 2017.
23. The department
initially identified possible risks to effective integration. However, regular
reporting against those risks ceased when the Reform and Integration Task Force
was disbanded.
24. The department made
extensive use of consultants to assist it with the integration process. Despite a requirement to
evaluate contracts upon completion, this did not occur in 31 out of 33 (94 per
cent) of contracts with a value of more than $1 million examined by the ANAO,
and therefore it is unclear whether these services represented value for money…..
The Assurance Partner [Third Horizon] was engaged by DIBP as a
consultant for the period 19 June 2014 to 18 June 2016 with a contract value of $2 million
The total paid to the consultant was $1.6 million. Due to the department’s
concerns with the Assurance Partner’s performance, the engagement ended early
in August 2015……
The initial allocation
of funds for the Portfolio Reform Program in the 2014–15 budget was $710.4
million.5 Additional funds were approved in successive budgets which brought
the total funding for the Program to $977.8 million. [my yellow highlighting]
BRIEF BACKGROUND
Wednesday 11 July 2018
Former head of Australia's Border Force is still under investigation for corruption
It appears that Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Minister for Home Affairs and Liberal MP for Dickson Peter Dutton's captain's pick is still under investigation.
ABC News, 4 July 2018:
The former head of
Australia's Border Force is still under investigation for corruption despite
being sacked more than three months ago.
Roman Quaedvlieg was one
of Australia's highest-paid public servants until his unprecedented dismissal
for helping his girlfriend land a job with the agency.
The termination came
after inquiries were launched by the Prime Minister's Department and the
Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI).
The ABC has now learned
the ACLEI probe is still underway — more than a year after the Commonwealth
watchdog was told of Mr Quaedvlieg's alleged misconduct.
"I've never been
interviewed by anyone, including ACLEI," Mr Quaedvlieg said in a
statement.
"This is the first
I've heard the ACLEI investigation is still active."
Fall of Roman's empire:
May 2017: Roman
Quaedvlieg begins paid leave following complaint
June 2017: Australian
Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) notified
August 2017: ACLEI
provides update to Immigration Department boss
August 2017: PM's
Department boss asked whether grounds exist to sack Quaedvlieg
February 2018:
Attorney-General receives PM's Department report
March 15, 2018:
Governor-General terminates Quaedvlieg's employment
The inaugural Border
Force commissioner said he was considering his legal options after being
removed from the $600,000-a-year role.
Mr Quaedvlieg has
previously denied any wrongdoing and last year expressed frustration at the
time taken for investigations to be concluded.
The commission said it
received a referral from Immigration Department secretary Michael Pezzullo
mid-last year.
"The Integrity
Commissioner received a notification in relation to Mr Quaedvlieg … in June
2017 and commenced a corruption investigation shortly thereafter," a
spokesman said.
"At this time the
investigation remains ongoing."
ACLEI has oversight of
about 20,000 Commonwealth law enforcement officials, including members of the
Australian Federal Police and the Home Affairs Department.
The agency had 47
full-time-equivalent staff during the 2016-17 financial year.
Labels:
Border Farce,
corruption,
Peter Dutton
Tuesday 26 June 2018
Australia’s Border Farce lives down to its nickname
Minister for
Home Affairs and Liberal MP for Dickson Peter
Dutton’s poor oversight and lack of managerial skills is on display for all
to see…….
The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 June 2018:
The benefits of
the merger of the Immigration and Customs departments and creation of
Australian Border Force haven't been proven and promised increased
revenue hasn't materialised, a damning audit report has found.
While the Department of
Immigration and Border Protection did achieve the merger effectively, it
"is not in a position to provide the government with assurance that the
claimed benefits of integration have been achieved," the report said.
The merger of the
Department of Immigration and Border Protection with the Australian
Customs and Border Protection Service took place in 2015, with its functions
now covered under the Department of Home Affairs. Controversial at the time, it
heralded a move to focus more on guarding the country's borders over
resettlement and migration.
In the business case for
the merger, the department committed to a "Benefits Realisation
Plan," but because the plan was not implemented, the claimed benefits have
not been measured and can't be demonstrated, the report said.
While the business case
for the integration of the departments promised an increase in revenue from
customs duty, less than half of the promised revenue increase has materialised.
At the end of 2017, just 42.2 per cent of the extra revenue committed to had
been achieved, and the report predicted that at the current rate just 31.6 per
cent of the additional revenue promised would be delivered.
When the merger was
announced, then immigration minister Scott Morrison promised "hundreds of
millions in savings" would be reinvested back into the agency.
Auditor-general Grant
Herir slammed the department's record keeping, which the department admitted
was in a "critically poor state," and said there was no evidence that
the Minister Peter Dutton was given written briefings on the progress of
the integration of the departments.
In its response, the
Department of Home Affairs acknowledged it had issues with record keeping and
committed to making improvements a priority. The report didn't look on this
commitment favourably though, pointing to more than 10 years of audits and
reviews that have made similar findings.
The problems and their
solutions are known to the department, and it has an action plan to address
them, although numerous previous attempts to do so have not been
successful," it said.
The report also found
that the department experienced a loss of corporate memory through the merger.
"Almost half of SES
officers present in July 2015 [were] no longer in the department at July
2017," it said.
The report also found
that out of 33 consultancy contracts with values of more than $1 million, just
2 were evaluated for value for money, meaning that it was unclear if the other
31 contracts had been value for money.
Spending on consultancy
in the department more than doubled in the years after the merger, topping more
than $50 million in each of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years…..
The Age, 19 June 2018:
The multimillion-dollar
college that trains Australia’s border security personnel has “overpromised and
underdelivered” and immigration and customs officials have repeatedly abused
their powers, a scathing report has found.
The
government-commissioned findings also said many department staff lack the
training needed to perform their jobs and “jaws of death” have gripped
officials struggling to complete more work with fewer resources.
In May 2014 the
Coalition Abbott government controversially announced the creation of the
Australian Border Force (ABF), as part of a merger of customs and immigration
border operations. Crucial to the new super-charged agency was the
establishment of the ABF College, with multiple campuses, to ensure recruits
and existing staff “have the right skills to do their jobs”.
Under the former
department of immigration and border protection, consultants RAND Australia
were asked to evaluate the progress of the merger, ahead of the creation
of the Home Affairs portfolio in December last year which combined immigration,
border protection, law enforcement and intelligence.
The findings concluded
that “clear and unequivocal” progress has been made towards building a “modern
border management capability”.
However, success had
been “uneven” and in particular, the ABF College “largely remains a
disappointment to senior leaders across the department”.
The report involved
interviews with senior department officials, who cited concern that the
college’s curriculum was “not adequate for actual training needs”.
The college’s use of
technology was poor and, in many cases, was used to “automate bad learning
environments” rather than improve training.
The college was supposed
to train staff across the department, however many officials were not given time
to attend courses.
Overall, the college and
other training opportunities in the department “overpromised and underdelivered
to the detriment of the workforce and the morale”.
One senior official was
so frustrated at the problems that he suspended a board examining the issues
“until new terms of reference and fresh ideas were developed”.
The report is dated 2018
but it is not clear exactly when it was finalised. The Department of Home
Affairs did not answer questions from Fairfax Media on how much had been spent
on the college and where its campuses were located. Officials have
previously said the 2014-15 budget included $54 million to establish the
college and other training measures, and that several campuses would be
established including in Sydney and Canberra.
Across the department’s
broader workforce, senior officials said staff in many cases lacked “the
capability to do the work required of their assigned positions”.
This included customs
and immigration investigators “not understanding the law, use of force
protocols, and rules of engagement” which in some cases led to “abuse of
power,” the report said.
One official said field
compliance officers “were doing dangerous jobs without proper training” and
another described a junior officer who was “unable to manage shipboard
operations due to a lack of proper training and experience”.
Department staff
described being held in the “jaws of death” as they juggled an increased
workload and declining resources. Senior officials repeatedly raised concern
that the ABF received more resources than other divisions but “has not been
subjected to the same level of scrutiny”….
As a local
member it appears that Dutton is also having ‘workforce’ issues ahead of the
forthcoming federal election…..
Peter is working hard
but could use your help.
If you can spare an hour or two to help Peter in Dickson, please join the team.
If you can spare an hour or two to help Peter in Dickson, please join the team.
The most shameful evidence of Peter Dutton's management style is found when one condiders that as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
since 23 December 2014, he currently has ultimate responsibility for the welfare of asylum
seekers held in custody.
Bringing the total number
of deaths in onshore or offshore detention and in the community to est. 64 people since January
2000.
That is the equivilant of almost four deaths each year on Peter Dutton's watch and around three deaths per year overall.
According to MSN
on 21 June 2018; There are nearly 700 men currently in
detention on Papua New Guinea, and more than 900 men, women and children on
Nauru.
Thursday 1 March 2018
No need to worry about the possibility that a Liberal-Nationals Federal Government will impose censorship on the free press in Australia
The
time to fret over the possibility of government censorship of the media is over
because in February 2018 it ceased being a distant possibility and became fact.
This
is what the Australian Press Council stated about the News Corp online article….
Australian Press Council (APC):
The
Press Council has considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by
an article published in news.com.au on 31 May 2017, headed “Islamic State [IS]
terror guide encourages luring victims via Gumtree, eBay”.
The opening paragraph read: “ISLAMIC State has released a step-by-step guide on how to murder nonbelievers, which includes how to lure targets via fake ads on Gumtree and eBay”. The article proceeded to relay in detail how an article in “[t]he latest edition of the terror group’s English-language propaganda magazine … encourages would-be terrorists to advertise products on second-hand selling sites … to lure victims and assassinate them”. The article mostly comprised extracts from the source material describing the steps necessary to perform such acts.
The Council considered that the article did publish much of the source material from IS verbatim, with limited accompanying analysis or context, such as comments from experts and websites such as Gumtree. The Council accepted there was no intention to encourage or support terrorism, but considered that republishing content from terrorist entities in this manner can perpetuate the purpose of such propaganda and give publicity to its ideas and practices.
However, the Council accepted the public interest in alerting readers to potential risks to their safety. It considered that on balance, the public interest in alerting readers to the dangerous content of the terrorist propaganda and its instructional detail was greater than the risk to their safety posed by the effective republication of terrorist propaganda content. Given this, the Council concluded that the public interest justified publication of the article. Accordingly, the publication did not breach General Principle 6.
The Council noted that great care needs to be exercised by publications when reporting on terrorist propaganda to ensure that public safety is not compromised. In particular, effectively republishing source material comprising instructional detail in how to carry out particular terrorist acts could pose a risk to public safety, and reasonable steps should be taken to prevent such an outcome.
This
is what the Turnbull Government did…….
News.com.au, 28 February 2018:
…the
article titled “Islamic State terror guide encourages luring victims via
Gumtree, eBay” no longer exists.
A
week after it was published on May 31, 2017, the Attorney-General’s office
contacted news.com.au to demand it be taken down, saying the Classification
Board had ruled it should be refused classification as it “directly or
indirectly” advocated terrorist acts.
It
appears to be the first time section 9A of the Classification (Publications,
Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 has been used to censor a news report, since
it was first added in 2007.
The
action has alarmed the publisher of news.com.au as Australian media in general
were not informed the Classification Board had the power to ban news stories or
that the eSafety Commissioner had the power to instigate investigations into
news articles.
“The
first news.com.au knew of this matter was when contacted by the
Attorney-General’s Department and advised of the Classification Board
decision,” news.com.au argued as part of a separate Press Council investigation
into the article.
“The
department, board and the eSafety Commissioner did not contact news.com.au
beforehand to advise of the investigation. Consequently, news.com.au was not
given the right to make submissions or a defence in regard to the article.”
News.com.au
removed the article as it was facing legal penalties from the Australian
Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) if it refused, including fines or
even civil or criminal legal action.
In
justifying its decision, the Classification Board noted the article contained
“detailed references and lengthy quotations from Rumiyah (Islamic
State’s propaganda magazine)” with limited author text to provide context.
News.com.au
asked the board why there was no opportunity for news organisations to defend
the article based on public interest grounds but a response provided by a
spokesman for the eSafety Commissioner did not directly address this.
The
spokesman said the board did consider whether the material could “reasonably be
considered to be done merely as part of public discussion or debate, or as
entertainment or satire” before making its decision.
He
also acknowledged this may have been the first time a news article had been
censored using this section.
However, as a government which to a man fails to grasp how the Internet works their well-laid plans seldom go off without a hitch and, the article that Turnbull & Co wish to erase from memory remains on national and international news sites as I write.
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