Will Dutton face the High Court?

On 23 August 2018 sixty-nine members of the Turnbull Coalition Government voted down a Labor motion to refer the Minister for Home Affairs and MP for Dickson, Peter Dutton, to the Court of Disputed Returns.

Included in this sixty-nine was Peter Dutton himself and most of the forty-five MPs who a day later refused to support Dutton's second leadership bid, as well as some reported to now be keeping their options open concerning referral to the Court. 

It seems that another motion is being prepared and there is no guarantee that the vote would go Dutton's way in a Morrison Coalition Government. 

News.com.au, 15 September 2018:

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been dealt another legal blow as constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says her advice for his referral to the High Court is "stronger" than ever.

Professor Twomey told The Australian the Solicitor-General's opinion brings up information about funding for the child care centres owned by Mr Dutton's family trust which "raised considerably the risk of disqualification" under section 44 of the constitution.

This new assessment comes after Julie Bishop called for "clarity" over Mr Dutton's eligibility and backed former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's calls for his referral.

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen told reporters in Sydney on Saturday that it was "very important" that Mr Dutton be referred.

"I see one of Australia's most eminent constitutional lawyers, Anne Twomey, suggesting today that the case for the reference to the High Court has been increased, is now stronger," he said.

Mr Bowen wouldn't say if and when Labor would make a second attempt to move a motion to refer Mr Dutton to the High Court, only that "we'll keep our options open."

A Labor motion for a referral was defeated by just one vote on August 23.

Ms Bishop hasn't ruled out crossing the floor to support the motion, saying if a vote was called: "I will make up my mind at that time".

Crossbenchers Cathy McGowan and Rebekha Sharkie told The Conversation on Wednesday that they would vote for a referral.

Ms McGowan said, "it should be done quickly and efficiently and effectively and sorted out."

"I think it's taking up a huge amount of space in parliament at the moment," she said."

According to The Saturday Paper, Mr Dutton only absented from one cabinet discussion on child care, despite having regularly declared his family investments.

A spokesperson for Mr Dutton said: "The minister has complied with the Statement of Ministerial Standards and the Cabinet Handbook. Suggestions to the contrary are false".

News.com.au, 15 September 2018:

The Greens are preparing a vote in parliament to check Home Affairs minister's eligibility over questions about his family financial interest in two childcare centres.

A similar motion failed by just one vote on Malcolm Turnbull's second last day as prime minister.

"I have taken advice in relation to my position, which put the question beyond doubt," Mr Dutton told parliament on Thursday.

Section 44 of the constitution disqualifies anyone who has a "direct or indirect pecuniary interest" in any agreement with the Commonwealth.

Childcare centres now get direct funding from the Commonwealth, which is then passed through to parents.

"Every day he continues on in this place there's going to be a huge cloud over him and over the government," Greens leader Richard Di Natale told reporters on Friday.

Greens MP Adam Bandt has been speaking to Liberal MPs about voting to refer Mr Dutton to the High Court, and the Greens believe support is rising.....

At the height of the Liberal leadership crisis, Solicitor General Stephen Donaghue advised he could not categorically determine Mr Dutton's status and only the High Court could.

However Mr Donaghue found on balance Mr Dutton was "not incapable" of sitting as an MP.....

A News Corp report on Friday claimed two government MPs are considering voting with Labor in forcing Mr Dutton to the High Court.

The report understands the rogue MPs are planning to use the threat of crossing the floor to force Mr Morrison to refer Mr Dutton to the High Court.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he won't act on Mr Turnbull's advice.

He's also checking whether Mr Dutton stepped out of cabinet when the childcare funding changes were discussed.

A sign of increasing desperation on Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton's part?

After threatening to bring into the House of Representatives files he kept on members of parliament when he Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Minister for Home Affairs and Liberal MP for Dickson Peter Dutton made sure two particular files were very visible on 11 September 2018.

Images found on Twitter

After he quoted from these files the Opposition requested that they be tabled. A request Dutton refused.

The SPEAKER: The memberfor McMahon on a point of order? Mr Bowen: The minister appeared to be quoting from documents in two folders. Could I ask him to table both folders? TheSPEAKER: Does the minister have confidential material with him? Mr DUTTON: Yes.

Watching these files deployed prior to and during Question Time, in what looked suspiciously like a form of visual intimidation, did little to enhance Dutton's defence of his own actions as immigration minister in 2015.

Dutton doubles down in a very public fight

“Grooming is when someone builds an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or trafficking. Children and young people can be groomed online or face-to-face, by a stranger or by someone they know - for example a family member, friend or professional.”  [National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 2018]

The Canberra Times, 11 September 2018:

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has dramatically escalated his attack on Roman Quaedvlieg, claiming the former Border Force commissioner "groomed" a woman 30 years his junior.

Mr Dutton also said Mr Quaedvlieg – who has emerged as a key figure in the high-profile saga surrounding the Minister's interventions in visa matters – was Labor's Godwin Grech, a reference to the former Treasury official whose misleading evidence in the "Utegate" scandal helped destroy Malcolm Turnbull's first stint as Liberal leader.

On Tuesday, amid ongoing scrutiny of Mr Dutton's conduct, Fairfax Media reported he pressed Mr Quaedvlieg in 2014 to help two Queensland policemen get jobs in the newly formed Border Force.

In response to questions from Labor in question time, the Home Affairs Minister said Mr Quaedvlieg was spreading lies.

"This smear is coming from the former Australian Border Force commissioner, a man who was, as commissioner, sacked from his position. He was a man who had groomed a girl 30 years younger than himself. He is discredited and disgraced," Mr Dutton said.

Mr Quaedvlieg, 53, was sacked from Border Force earlier this year after he was found to have helped his younger girlfriend, Sarah Rogers, reportedly 22 years old, get a job within the agency.

"He is somebody that the Labor Party should not rely on. A lot has been promised to the Labor Party  but it's clear to me that Roman Quaedvlieg is your Godwin Grech."

Mr Quaedvlieg immediately responded to the attack, saying they were "curious, stuttering, rambling comments". He noted Mr Dutton was making the comments under parliamentary privilege, protecting him from legal action.

"Grooming? Are you serious? That has a legislative meaning. Is that what he meant?" he said on Twitter.

Quaedvlieg has since written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives complaining that Dutton has abused parliamentary privilege.

The Dutton allegations......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhPorZ3tWoo

Australian Minister for Home Affairs & Liberal MP for Dickson still has questions to answer

Peter Dutton. Image credit The Chronicle

In six days time the Senate Standing Committee Legal and Constitutional Affairs will deliver its report on an investigation into then Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's alleged improper use of ministerial powers.

Meanwhile the list of potentially questionable situations appears to be growing........

The Guardian, 30 August 2018:

One of the foreign au pairs Peter Dutton saved from deportation came to Australia to work for the family of a former police force colleague, Guardian Australia understands.

Dutton used his ministerial powers under the Migration Act in June 2015 to grant a visa to an Italian au pair who was intending to work for a Brisbane family.

The couple have worked for the Queensland police service and have two young children. The Guardian has decided not to name them.

The matter is one of at least two au pair visa cases which are now the subject of a Senate inquiry.

Guardian Australia revealed on Tuesday that Dutton had saved another au pair from deportation, intervening after the AFL chief executive officer, Gillon McLachlan, raised the young woman’s case on behalf of his relatives.

An email chain was leaked on Thursday featuring the correspondence of immigration officials, Peter Dutton’s office, an AFL staffer, McLachlan and his second cousin. The emails run over 14 pages and indicate that Dutton overruled border security advice and allowed entry to Australia for the French woman, Alexandra Deuwel, on 1 November 2015.

In the Queensland case, the Italian au pair had her visa cancelled upon arrival at Brisbane’s international airport on 17 June 2015. She was able to make a phone call and soon afterwards Dutton approved a new visa.

There are pictures on her Facebook profile showing she ate Tim Tams and Caramello Koalas on her first night in Australia, after the visa dramas were resolved. “First night in Australia.. FINALLY!” she wrote.

She later visited Surfers Paradise, Brisbane’s agricultural show the Ekka, Australia Zoo, Melbourne, and posed for pictures by the Brisbane River.

The au pair’s case file names the Brisbane family as her hosts, a source told Guardian Australia.

Dutton was a police officer from 1990 until 1999 before being elected to federal parliament in 2001. In 1997 Dutton and the family’s father completed a surveillance course together and were pictured in a group photograph.

Asked if the au pair was intending to work for his family, the policeman told Guardian Australia: “Not confirming, not denying. Just talk to Peter Dutton’s office. It’s well above my call as to what to say.”

The visa status of two au pairs have been in the spotlight since March, when it was revealed Dutton granted them visas on public interest grounds.

Crime and Corruption Commission (Queensland), excerpt from media release, 14 August 2018:

The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has tabled a report in State Parliament this afternoon following the completion of its investigation into Ipswich City Council.

The CCC commenced Operation Windage in October 2016 to investigate allegations of corrupt conduct relating to the then Mayor, Chief Executive Officer and a Chief Operating Officer.

The investigation has resulted in 15 people being charged with 86 criminal offences. Of the 15 people charged, seven are either current or former council employees or councillors. This includes two mayors, two CEOs and one Chief Operating Officer.

Queensland Parliament, tabled papers, 8 August 2017:

Since this issue became public Dutton has begun to publicly threaten his critics. 

Revealing he kept files on Opposition members of parliament (and presumably other individuals) who approached him as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and, that he fully intends to use the contents of these files against his critics if he feels the need.

“I’ve got a series of cases that have been put to me by Labor members — and I’ve kept a very good list actually of MPs who have come to me with quirky cases,” Mr Dutton told reporters.

“I will be happy to go into some matters in question time, potentially.”

When parliament resumes sitting next week Greens MP for Melbourne Adam Bandt, seconded by Independent MP for Denison Andrew Wilkie and supported by Labor MPs, will move a motion of no confidence in the Minister for Home Affairs over the visa for au pairs affair.

It will likely fail by a slim margin, as MP for Page Kevin Hogan's faux change from Nationals MP to an independent member sitting on the cross benches (in order to save his seat at the next federal election) will still see him support the dysfunctional Morrison Government and an ethically challenged Peter Dutton.

The Standing Committee Legal and Constitutional Affairs public hearing re allegations concerning the inappropriate exercise of ministerial powers, with respect to the
visa status of au pairs, and related matters commences at 9am today 5 September 2016.

BACKGROUND

House of Representatives Hansard, 26 March 2018:

Shayne Neumann (Blair):  

I refer to concerns raised in the media today relating to the minister's use of his ministerial discretion to grant a tourist visa to an au pair. Was his decision based on departmental advice? If not, what prompted the minister to intervene? And will the minister undertake to provide the opposition with a departmental briefing at the earliest opportunity so the facts can be made clear?

Peter Dutton (Dickson): I thank the honourable member for his question. At last a question from the member for Blair! Well done! Fighting away on tactics each day—finally, you've risen to the top of the pile. It is six past three. You have missed out on television but, nonetheless, it's throw the dog a bone, I guess. There are media reports around today which talk about a decision that I made in relation to a visa. There are defamatory parts of that which I'm going to address with the journalist. Our family does not employ an au pair. My wife takes very good care in my absence of our three children. We have never employed an au pair. I have instructed before that that story is completely false and yet it still continues to be published.

In relation to the matter otherwise, I will release more detail which I'm putting together at the moment. As I say, it is defamatory. I won't tolerate it being printed again. I make decisions—

I won't! I won't have my family—

I won't have false details, as the Leader of the Opposition would appreciate as well, about my wife and my children printed. I won't stand for it. That's the reality.

I make hundreds of decisions each year in relation to ministerial discretion under the Migration Act, as has been the case with many ministers passed. There are cases brought to me by members on the frontbench and members of this parliament on a regular basis. I look at the individual circumstances around each matter. If I determine that there is an interest in me intervening in those cases, I do. In many cases I look at the particular facts. For example, the honourable shadow Treasurer—nodding away—writes to me regularly in relation to matters. If I deem the circumstances to be appropriate, I intervene. In this particular matter—again I'm happy to release further detail—I was advised at the time there were two matters, only one to which you are referring at the moment.

There were two young tourists who had come in on a tourist visa and declared in an interview with the Border Force officers at the airport—I was advised—they were here on a tourist visa but intended to perform babysitting duties while here. The decision that was taken, I was advised, was that the tourist visas would be cancelled, that those two young tourists would be detained and that they would be deported. I looked into the circumstances of those two cases and I thought that inappropriate. I thought if they gave an undertaking they wouldn't work while they were here, I would grant the tourist visas and they would stay, which they did. They didn't overstay; they returned back home. Now if there are facts there you dispute or you think there is another scurrilous point you want to put, put it outside of this chamber.

House of Representatives, Hansard, 27 March 2018:

Mr BANDT (Melbourne): My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. Minister, I note your recent statements in relation to your personal intervention to prevent the deportation of two foreign intended au pairs. Can you categorically rule out any personal connection or any other relationship between you and the intended employer of either of the au pairs?

Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection): The answer is yes. I haven't received any personal benefit. I don't know these people. They haven't worked for me. They haven't worked for my wife. I repeated all of that yesterday, and I repeat it again today. I point the honourable member to the facts in relation to ministerial intervention. The member for McMahon—we were just talking about his successful record when he was last in government. Remember, he was the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. At one point in 2012, there were 218 cases referred for consideration. In 2013, the honourable member for McMahon was there, along with the member for Watson. There were 228 cases in the year 2013; in 2014, 193 cases.

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.

Linkedin entry retrieved 28 August 2018. It has since been removed from public view

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:

On 23 August 2018, the Senate referred the allegations concerning the inappropriate exercise of ministerial powers, with respect to the visa status of au pairs, and related matters to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 11 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]

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

North Coast Voices, 26 June 2018, Australia’s Border Farce lives down to its nickname

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.