Karen Andrews defends election-day reveal of asylum seeker boat interception, government calls on Coalition to apologise

The former home affairs minister has rejected claims her office pressured public servants to act politically on election day by publicly revealing an intercepted asylum seeker boat. 

Key points:

Karen Andrews says she was told to publicise the operation by former prime minister Scott Morrison and that no election caretaker provisions were broken.

But her defence was swiftly rejected by her replacement, Labor’s Claire O’Neil, who said she owed the Australian people an apology for “a profoundly disgraceful set of activities”.

A report prepared by Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo found uniformed Australian Border Force and Australian Defence Force members, as well as public servants, acted with integrity by refusing a request to release a media statement while the operation was ongoing.

A departmental statement was eventually issued minutes after Mr Morrison announced the interception in his final press conference as prime minister, but the report concluded officials refused requests to post it on social media or send it directly to journalists.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. ‘Hang their head in shame’: Current Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neil calls on former government to apologise

The report also reveals public servants were pressured to upload the statement online, with a publishing delay leading one ministerial staffer to write “a lot of people are furious”.

Ms Andrews has again insisted she did not know the Liberal Party campaign was planning to send political text messages to voters about the asylum seeker boat once the statement had been published.

“Firstly, the report makes it very clear there was no breach of caretaker provisions,” Ms Andrews told Channel Nine.

“I asked clearly for the statement to be put out in a very situational awareness type of report, so it really just stuck to the facts.

“It just needed to be brief. It just needed to be put out there so that it was clear that there had been a vessel that had been intercepted.”

The statement and response from the prime minister on election day surprised many political observers, given the government’s previous unwillingness to discuss “on-water matters”.

Karen Andrews (right) said she was asked by then-prime minister Scott Morrison to issue a statement.(ABC News: Adam Kennedy) ‘Come forward and apologise’

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neill said the election-day episode was “disgraceful, shameful and characteristic of a national government which frequently pursued political interests above the national interest”.

“The actions of the former government on election day were a profoundly disgraceful set of activities that undermined our national interest and subverted our democracy on the day of an election,” Ms O’Neil said.

“The former government needs to hang its head in shame and come forward and apologise.”

The report indicates public servants were pressured to go beyond caretaker provisions and that the government asked for the statement to be emailed to selected journalists.

That was refused by Mr Pezzullo, who had already told staff to be aware the interception “could become a very late election issue” and to “keep an eye out for any chatter on social media or worse, any leaks to the media”.

“The release once cleared is to be posted to our news and media site – no more and no less,” he said, according to the report.

Ms Andrews said no rules had been broken and it was important to ensure the opposition was briefed.

“There was absolutely no pressure put on the department,” she told Channel Nine.

“I was asked by the prime minister to issue the statement and that is exactly what I did.”

The interception was first revealed by the prime minister when he responded to a question from a journalist during a press conference in his own electorate.

“Reports have just dropped now that a vessel has been intercepted in an attempt to illegally enter Australia from Sri Lanka. What’s your response to that?” the journalist asked.

Mr Morrison confirmed that was the case, even though official confirmation from the department had not yet been made public.

“The information may have made its way to the journalist separate to, and before, the ABF newsroom announcement,” the report said.

Posted 5h ago5 hours agoSat 23 Jul 2022 at 2:40am, updated 46m ago46 minutes agoSat 23 Jul 2022 at 7:22am