Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Herbert. He's a great supporter of our Border Force officers. I thank him very much for his service to our country as well.

The government has obviously implemented very significant plans to try to keep Australians healthy and safe. At our borders we are armed with the most professional group of men and women in the Australian Border Force. I think all Australians should be very proud of the work they do. Along with Agriculture, they process some 60,000 people a day inbound through not just our airports—obviously a number of Border Force officers are dispatched to different seaports to meet cruise liners and to process product that is coming into our country as well.

When we put Border Force together, and the Home Affairs portfolio more generally, the idea was that the agencies would be able to work more effectively together. That is certainly the case. Border Force has a much closer relationship now with the Australian Federal Police, the ACIC, AUSTRAC, ASIO et cetera. That informs all of their work at the airports on the front lines. Our officers are highly trained and they're internationally respected. I want to pay tribute to the commissioner, Michael Outram, and to all of the officers of the Australian Border Force for the work that they do on a daily basis to keep Australians safe. As the health minister and the Chief Medical Officer have pointed out, there have been travel changes put in place. We've worked very closely with DFAT as well. The Australian Border Force has been able to communicate that message effectively to the travelling public and, importantly, to provide enhanced ill-traveller screening processes to target coronavirus.

I want to reassure the Australian public about the network of officers that we have, not just domestically but internationally, particularly at major hubs, where we have departmental liaison officers and airline liaison officers. They are screening people as they're coming onto flights. We reject people if they don't have the right documentation or if we have concerns about their health, so we reduce the risk to the Australian public. It's an incredibly important part of the work the Australian Border Force does. We've also implemented pre-recorded announcements in English and Chinese being played in arrivals areas at international air and sea ports. Electronic signage and pull-up banners are on display at our international airports, and there are radio announcements for seaports and cruise terminals informing travellers of the symptoms of COVID-19 and what to do if they experience symptoms. Again, I'd ask people to heed the advice of the Chief Medical Officer and the officers at our borders.