Indonesia will bend to boats policy, says Abbott
TONY ABBOTT says a Coalition government would turn back asylum boats without permission from Indonesia because he would forge such a strong relationship between the two nations it could withstand the odd disagreement.
He made the declaration yesterday as the Indonesian government confirmed the issue was not raised when Mr Abbott had a private meeting with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in Darwin last week.
A spokesman for Mr Yudhoyono said the issue was not raised with Mr Abbott because he is not in charge of government policy. It was, however, discussed during the President's talks with the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Ms Gillard has called Mr Abbott a coward for not floating his policy with the Indonesian President.
Mr Abbott said yesterday the Howard government turned back boats without seeking Jakarta's permission and he would do so as well.
''They just turned boats around,'' he said. ''They had a relationship with Indonesia that enabled that to be done without unduly upsetting the relationship but that was a decision of the Australian government, not of any other government.''
The Herald revealed last week that during the talks in Darwin, the Indonesian government reiterated it would not permit boats containing asylum seekers to be turned around. Australian government officials warned any attempt to do so would seriously damage the relationship.
Last year, Immigration Department officials said turning around boats was the most effective deterrent undertaken by the Howard government.
It occurred on a handful of occasions after ''a nod and wink'' from Indonesia but the officials said Indonesia would no longer permit it. Furthermore, the department said asylum seekers started scuttling boats to prevent them being turned back. Turning back the boats involved authorities leaving asylum seekers with just enough fuel and water to make it back to Indonesia.
In Perth yesterday, campaigning against the carbon tax, Mr Abbott told local radio asylum seekers coming by boat were un-Christian after a listener rang in and accused him of having an un-Christian attitude.
''I don't think it's a very Christian thing to come in by the back door rather than the front door,'' Mr Abbott said. ''I'm all in favour of Australia having a healthy and compassionate refugee and humanitarian intake program - but I think that the people we accept should be coming the right way, not the wrong way.''
In recent days, the former chief of the Australian Defence Force, Admiral Chris Barrie, the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, and the Australian Defence Association have warned turning back the boats is dangerous for the authorities and asylum seekers.
Mr Abbott, too, acknowledged it was dangerous. He sidestepped yesterday when asked whether he would also send boats back to Sri Lanka, from where an increasing number are coming.
The government believes its plan of sending 800 asylum seekers back to Malaysia will be as effective a deterrent as towing back boats but the Parliament will not pass the necessary legislation.
To break the political deadlock, Ms Gillard set up a taskforce comprising the former defence force chief Angus Houston refugee advocate Paris Aristotle and former Howard government diplomat and foreign affairs secretary, Michael L'Estrange.
This comes as the Coalition confirmed it would not accept Prime Minister Julia Gillard's invitation to join a parliamentary committee to break the asylum seeker impasse.
The Coalition was invited by Ms Gillard two weeks ago to nominate three of its members to join the committee, which will support the work of an independent expert panel, headed by former Defence chief Angus Houston.
Mr Abbott has previously said he would meet with Air Chief Marshal Houston - who is tasked with reporting back to the government on asylum seekers by August - but questioned the relevance of the MPs committee.
Yesterday, Mr Abbott wrote to Ms Gillard - citing an "absence of any terms of reference as requested" and calling the MPs group "unnecessary".
"The Coalition does not need to be part of a committee to meet with Mr Houston," he wrote.
Mr Abbott also questioned the make-up of the MPs group - which includes independent Tony Windsor and the Greens.
"Given this is the same alliance, together with Mr [Rob] Oakeshott, that enabled the passage of the Carbon Tax, any agreement by this group on these issues would therefore have the support necessary to secure passage of any legislation through both House of Representatives and the Senate," Mr Abbott said.
with Judith Ireland and AAP