I wonder if tightening the Border Force budget is a political tactic to put cracks in border security leading into an election.
Sad state of affairs if it is.
Stop the boats: Email exposes Border Force plans to save money by halting ocean patrols
The Australian Border Force plans to save money on fuel by pulling ships from ocean patrols, amid a high-stakes political fight between the Morrison government and Labor over border security policy.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age has sighted an internal Border Force email stating that “operational limitations” will be imposed to achieve a saving in the annual fuel budget and “ships will cease active patrolling to achieve this fuel saving”.
The Department of Home Affairs has previously confirmed that Border Force began implementing “a range of significant budget control measures” in November.
Border Force insiders are concerned that pulling boats from active patrol will damage maritime security capacity. There are also reports that scores of officers have left the maritime unit in recent months in response to poor working conditions and cutbacks.
Labor’s immigration and border protection spokesman Shayne Neumann said the department's budget cutbacks were jeopardising Australia’s border security.
A spokesman from the Community and Public Sector Union said it was not aware of instructions to cease active patrols. He confirmed the maritime unit was suffering low morale, officers were frustrated and there had been a “high than normal turnover” of staff in the past year.
