Immigration Minister Scott Morrison defies Senate order to release information about Operation Sovereign Borders

Updated

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has defied a Senate order to release more information about asylum seeker operations, citing "national security" and the "protection of public safety".

Last week the Greens and Labor successfully moved a motion in the Senate forcing the minister to present all communications relating to "on-water operations" since the Coalition won Government on September 7.

The ordering of documents is one of the most powerful instruments available to the Upper House.

But Mr Morrison has resisted the order, instead offering the Greens and Opposition senators a private briefing and copies of the publicly available transcripts of his weekly press conferences, updates and statements.

In a letter tabled in response, Mr Morrison says the documents requested should be withheld.

"They would .. cause damage to national security, defence or international relations," the letter stated.

"They contain material relating to law enforcement or protection of public safety."

In retaliation, the Greens say they will pursue a motion in the Senate to stall all legislation relating to immigration matters.

"The Greens will continue to prosecute the case for transparency in the Senate," Greens' immigration spokeswoman Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"The Government has defied the order and now the Senate will decide the consequence.

"It makes you wonder, what exactly is this Government trying to hide?"

The Government has been criticised for tightly controlling information about its Operation Sovereign Borders, but says releasing information more often would assist people smugglers.

Opposition demands answers on reports of asylum seeker rescue

Mr Morrison was again a key target of the Opposition during today's Question Time.

Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles called on the Government to clarify reports that asylum seekers had to be rescued after a failed attempt to tow their boat back to Indonesia.

News Corp websites are reporting a Customs boat had to rescue 40 asylum seekers after it tried to tow the boat and the bow was torn.

"Can the minister confirm reports that last Friday an Australian Navy patrol boat near Christmas Island sought to tow an asylum seeker vessel and that vessel then broke up and sank," Mr Marles said.

"Is this the first attempted towback and is this an example of it being safe to do so?"

Mr Morrison again refused to give any details of asylum seeker matters.

"The Government will not be supporting the Opposition's campaign for the people smugglers' right to know," he told Parliament.

The Commander of the Government's Operation Sovereign Borders, Angus Campbell, also refused to provide any details about the incident.

He says constantly updating information on criminal matters is not always helpful.

He has given Senate Estimates an example from Canada to support his argument.

"A swoop on many hundreds of people who were involved in paedophilia and pornography. That was not dealt with on an incidental basis. It was a great success done very carefully and quietly," he said.

Scott Morrison's response letter to Senate order "> External Link: Immigration Minister Scott Morrison's response letter to the Senate order ">

Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, federal-parliament, immigration, australia

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