This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

The political auction over border policies in the countdown to the federal election has escalated, with the opposition unveiling Operation Sovereign Borders.

Tony Abbott and the shadow immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, committed on Thursday to “a military-led response” to combat people smuggling, if the Coalition wins the election.

The operation would be led by a senior military commander of three-star ranking recommended for the task by the chief of the defence force, and reporting to the immigration minister.

The initiative unveiled in Brisbane on Thursday would supplement the Coalition’s pre-existing policy of turning back boats, Operation Relex II, and other deterrence measures, including the restoration of temporary protection visas.

The Coalition’s policy is a political counterstrike to Labor’s declaration last week that asylum seekers will no longer be resettled in Australia but instead dispatched to Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement.

But the Australian Defence Association has raised serious objections to the plan. In a statement the ADA said: “As a constitutional and legal principle the Australian Defence Force should not be used for civil law enforcement unless it is a real emergency and the relevant civil agencies do not have the specialist resources to cope.”

The ADA said the model envisaged by Abbott and Morrison breached legal the chain of command. “The Coalition plan envisages a senior ADF officer answering directly as a commander, for a non-military function, to the minister for immigration and citizenship, rather than through the legal chain of command to the chief of defence force and then to the civil control of the minister for defence.”

The week since the government’s radical policy shift has seen more boat arrivals, the sinking of an asylum boat off Java, and allegations emerge of serious abuse in the temporary processing facility on Manus Island.

The immigration minister, Tony Burke, arrived on Manus Island on Thursday morning, and the government has begun transferring detainees on Manus back to the Australian mainland before preparing the facility for its role in the new regional agreement with Papua New Guinea.

The Coalition has also become embroiled in a diplomatic skirmish with PNG after Abbott and the shadow foreign minister, Julie Bishop, criticised the lack of accountability surrounding Australia’s aid funding to its neighbour under the controversial resettlement agreement with the Rudd government.

The prime minister, Peter O’Neill, and the high commissioner, Charles Lepani, have rebuked the opposition for impugning the dignity of PNG.

The Coalition said that within 100 days of taking office it would establish the headquarters for Operation Sovereign Borders, create a joint agency taskforce to oversee border protection, “issue protocols” for turning back boats, increase capacity at offshore processing centres, and lease and deploy additional vessels to relieve patrol vessels of passenger transfers.

The Coalition’s policy document does not contain a complete costing for Operation Sovereign Borders. It allocates $10m for a new joint agency headquarters.

Abbott and Morrison declared on Thursday that boat arrivals had become a “national emergency” and radical action was required to address the current challenges. The new policy was about establishing “a clear mission and a clear line and change of command”.

Morrison said the policy was consistent with the rationale the Coalition had applied to border protection for more than a decade, and he said the people smugglers were aware of the Coalition’s resolve on border security. “This will stop the boats and get the job done,” he said.

Asked when precisely the Coalition would stop the boats, Abbott repeated his formulation that the Coalition would “make a difference from day one”.

Reacting to the new Coalition policy during a swing through Tasmania, Kevin Rudd said Abbott had shown himself incapable of working constructively on a regional solution to people-smuggling.

The chief of the defence force, General David Hurley issued a statement indicating he had not advised the opposition on its new policy. “Defence understands that the chief of the defence force would be consulted regarding any future policies affecting defence to be implemented by a future government,” the statement said.

“The chief of the defence force's role is to implement the policies of the government of the day and the Australian Defence Force continues to contribute to the whole-of-government effort to protect Australia's borders and offshore maritime interests through Operation Resolute.”