Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs ) Share this | Hansard source

): I thank the member for his question. I am not sure what it has got to do with the budget, but I am happy to answer it anyway.

My office is informed when Border Protection Command are aware of a boat. The release is not issued until the boat has been intercepted and the information in that release can be confirmed. From time to time, we will be told that a boat has been detected, and that from the air it can be determined that there might be 30 or 40 people on the boat, but the release is not issued until an interception has occurred and we can confirm those numbers to provide the information that you receive in the press release. That is, I think, the appropriate course of action to make sure that the information that is provided to you and to the media is as accurate as it could possibly be.

You asked who ultimately approves the release—me. It is my name at the top and it is my obligation to make sure that the information is accurate. I cannot speak for previous ministers, but I am assuming that that is the practice that they adopted in the past: to make sure that a statement is issued only once the boat has been intercepted and all of that information can be properly and accurately provided.

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