Prime Minister Tony Abbott likens campaign against people smugglers to 'war'

Updated

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has likened the Government's border protection approach to being at "war" with people smugglers.

The Government has come under fire for refusing to release details of attempts to turn asylum seeker boats back to Indonesia.

And yesterday the Chief of the Defence Force was forced to defend the actions of defence personnel, after a number of asylum seekers claimed they were mistreated by Australian authorities.

This morning Mr Abbott told Channel Ten that releasing information would help people smugglers, and put asylum seekers' lives at risk.

"We are in a fierce contest with these people smugglers," he said.

"And if we were at war, we wouldn't be giving out information that is of use to the enemy just because we might have an idle curiosity about it ourselves."

But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says "nothing justifies the Prime Minister's ongoing war on the truth".

"We don't know what is happening on our borders. We don't know what the Prime Minister is doing, or if he has any control over the situation at all," he said.

"We are getting more information from Indonesia than from our own Government."

Mr Shorten says it is time "the PM ended this cavalier attitude towards transparency" as "it shows a deep disrespect for the Australian people".

"There is nothing more serious than dealing with the evil trade of people smuggling. We're talking about lives being lost at sea," he said.

"It is not for Tony Abbott to be satisfied that actions taken by his Government are right and justified - that is for the Australian people to judge."

Indonesian establishment unites against Australian policy; general says his words were 'twisted'

Mr Abbott's comments came as Indonesia's government and military closed ranks against Australia's policy of turning back asylum seeker boats.

The Indonesian president's office has backed his foreign minister's rejection of Australia policy, saying turning boats back to Indonesia is "unhelpful".

And Indonesia's military chief General Moeldoko, who was quoted in the Jakarta Post as saying he had "agreed" to Australia's policy, now says his words have been "twisted".

Earlier this week General Moeldoko was reported as saying that his Australian counterpart, General David Hurley, called him to explain that Australia would be turning boats back.

"I have agreed. Therefore, we don't need to feel offended," The Jakarta Post reported him as saying.

But General Moeldoko now says that does not mean he supports Australia sending asylum seeker boats back to Indonesia.

He says his words merely meant that he recognised the Australian Navy was carrying out orders from the Federal Government.

"My response was not approving it. I said 'I understand the tactical steps,' that's my standpoint," he said.

"I did not speak about foreign policy, instead I spoke about tactical decisions in the field. My statement should not be twisted."

The general blamed misreporting and told journalists to "straighten it up".

A senior Indonesian government source has also criticised reports of an Australian Government plan to use lifeboats to help get asylum seekers back to Indonesia.

Mahfudz Siddiq, the chairman of Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Commission, has questioned the difference between that and people smuggling syndicates providing boats.

"The Australian Government action, by returning the two boats back to Indonesia, is a provocative action," he said.

"Instead of solving problems, it will trigger more conflict, it will have an impact broadly and fundamentally on the bilateral relations, it will cost both countries."

He says such action would not be tolerated by the Indonesian military, adding that were the rescue boats to re-enter Indonesian waters, "this becomes a smuggling operation, legalised by the Australian Government".

"This of course would not be accepted by Indonesian military, because it has been a defence issue and breaching water territory sovereignty," he said.

Morrison releases weekly Sovereign Borders update

Meanwhile Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has released a weekly Operation Sovereign Borders update but is not holding a media conference.

The update does not make mention of the Australian Navy turning two boats back to Indonesia and repeated previous statements that the Government will not comment on "on water activities".

"People smugglers have used official commentary on such matters to make dangerous assumptions about our maritime operations," the statement from Mr Morrison's office said.

The statement does say that no asylum seekers arrived in Australia by boat in the past week.

But the Government has transferred 30 people to Manus Island and another 29 to Nauru offshore processing centres.

Four people have opted to be sent to their home countries: three to Iran and one to Lebanon.

Topics: abbott-tony, government-and-politics, federal-government, immigration, defence-and-national-security, defence-forces, australia

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