Former border force head says he was handed a migrant boat model as a thank-you gift for work on border protection

Scott Morrison gave a model of an asylum-seeker boat emblazoned with the words “We stopped these” to Roman Quaedvlieg as a thank-you gift for his work on the Coalition’s border protection policy, Quaedvlieg has said.

The gift was a replica of one that Morrison said was a gift from a constituent, with the words “I stopped these”, referring to the fishing boats used to transport asylum seekers – mainly via Indonesia – to Australia to seek refuge.

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Morrison said his model had been with him for about four years but he did not mention that he had also given out others as gifts.

On Friday, former Australian Border Force commissioner Quaedvlieg – who was sacked in March after an investigation into allegations he helped get a job at Sydney Airport for a junior staff member with whom he was in a relationship – tweeted a photo of his own boat model. It has a slightly different inscription and a handwritten thank-you note on the back signed by Morrison.

I thought the trophy boat was a bit gimmicky Roman Quaedvlieg

“I was gifted one of these trophy boats by Morrison over a ‘thank you’ dinner to commemorate the success of Operation Sovereign Borders around the time of his switch from Immigration & Border Protection to Social Services,” Quaedvlieg told Guardian Australia.

“I appreciated the dinner and the strong compliments he paid to me for my contribution to on-water operations, but I thought the trophy boat was a bit gimmicky and I subsequently kept it in my office cupboard out of sight of subordinate officers to avoid them thinking a diminished view of their role existed – a role which was a serious and risky one where their safety was constantly at risk.”

It’s understood other trophies were also handed out.

Roman Quaedvlieg (@quaedvliegs) “So where the bloody hell were you”, when parliamentary privilege was misused to malign me? To parody another tourism slogan: “Credited one day, discredited the next”



My gift wasn’t on display because I didn’t want my officers seeing their risky work diminished to a gimmick pic.twitter.com/PdSmztQyR1

Quaedvlieg has increasingly spoken out against members of government, including the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, in relation to the au pairs scandal, and is currently seeking redress through the parliament after Dutton spoke under privilege to accuse him of “grooming” a younger woman.

Quaedvlieg has also indicated he was unhappy with the policies regarding medical transfers of ill detainees, and delays in resettlement, but otherwise has defended his role at the head of the border force.

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Morrison’s decision to display the boat has been questioned in some quarters, given the international condemnation of the Australian government’s immigration policy.

He and other members of government have consistently rejected the criticism, claiming the policy stopped thousands of people taking dangerous and often fatal journeys by boat to Australia to seek asylum.

Thousands have died on the crossing attempts, but the number of arrivals has dropped significantly following the turn-back operations - also widely criticised.

Some boats have still reached Australia, including in far north Queensland this month. Department staff have told told Senate estimates that definitional policies mean “sometimes when a boat arrives it actually doesn’t”.

Morrison’s office has been contacted for comment.