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    Australian Border Force

    July

    n 2020, there was a global rush to secure masks to try to restrict the spread of COVID-19 – some of the results were far from satisfactory.

    Importers got rich on COVID masks; the shipment’s still on the dock

    When COVID-19 erupted around the world, the race was on to secure masks and gowns. Middlemen were in lucrative taxpayer deals, even one which went awry.

    • Liam Walsh and Neil Chenoweth

    May

    Immigration Minister Andrew Giles: in keeping with modern practice, Anthony Albanese will not let him walk.

    Giles scandal shows we disdain bureaucracies until we need services

    Slashing the capabilities of government departments means that in the real world, dodgy characters escape scrutiny and genuine needs go unanswered.

    • Laura Tingle
    Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security Clare O’Neil and Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Stephanie Foster.

    Crisis-focused Home Affairs fails to prepare for security threats

    A review of the $6.3 billion Home Affairs department has found it is too focused on crisis management, and lacks the trust of other key intelligence agencies.

    • Tom Burton

    April

    Ninette Simons is still recovering after the terrifying ordeal on April 17.

    Albanese tries to shift blame on alleged attack by freed detainee

    Labor is under fresh pressure over its management of immigration detainees set free by the High Court after the alleged bashing of a Perth grandmother.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Roman Quaedvlieg has plans for the ASX.

    Former Border Force boss rattles the tin, eyes the ASX

    The former face of the Coalition’s Stop the Boats campaign wants $20 million to fund his private security outfit’s roll-up of three other companies.

    • Updated
    • Max Mason
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    Anthony Albanese says there have been no changes to Operation Sovereign Borders.

    Boat arrivals taken to Nauru after reaching mainland

    A third boat has made it to mainland Australia in five months, adding to pressure on the Albanese government over border protection.

    • Andrew Tillett

    March

    An Australian navy ship passes by the MV Tampa off Christmas Island in 2001.

    Legislate rather than litigate: why Labor is feeling heat on detainees

    Successive governments have felt they need to rush migration laws into parliament to stay ahead of people smugglers and the courts.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil.

    Fresh wave of immigration detainee releases expected

    The Albanese government is bracing for a fresh wave of High Court cases – and rulings – against the powers to hold people in immigration detention indefinitely.

    • Andrew Tillett

    February

    A group of the suspected asylum seekers with members of the Indigenous community where they first made contact.

    Boat arrivals who reached WA taken to Nauru

    Andrew Hastie said the government was “soft and weak” on national security as the opposition doubled down on its attacks over the boat arrival.

    • Tom McIlroy and Maxim Shanahan

    January

    Authorities have seized more than $4.5 million worth of disposable vapes after the government banned the importation of the products from the new year.

    Crackdown seizes $4.5m of disposable vapes

    Border Force authorities seized 150,000 disposable vapes worth about $4.5 million after the federal government cracked down on the ‘public health menace’.

    • Gus McCubbing

    December 2023

    Federal police seize a car in the bust.

    Billion-dollar AFP busts reveal what criminals do with their money

    A police taskforce has seized more than $1.1 billion worth of assets from alleged criminals, including fancy houses, fast cars, designer gear and bags of cash.

    • Patrick Durkin
    Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on Wednesday.

    Immigration detention laws pass as fourth ex-detainee arrested

    Canberra has already started identifying the “worst of the worst” offenders to go back into immigration detention as it circumvents a High Court ruling.

    • Updated
    • Andrew Tillett
    Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders Justin Jones says there is no link between a High Court ruling an increased risk of boat arrivals.

    People smugglers will twist court ruling to load their boats: admiral

    Australian border officials are braced for a potential influx of asylum seeker boats after the High Court’s ruling against indefinite immigration detention.

    • Andrew Tillett

    August 2023

    Australian Border Force says illicit tobacco is a growing industry for organised crime groups.

    Illegal tobacco, rising cigarette prices dent supermarket profits

    Master Grocers Association chief David Inall says illicit tobacco is a significant concern for its 2700 members, mostly independent grocery and liquor stores.

    • Carrie LaFrenz

    March 2023

    Key West Police and US Border Patrol officers take some of the Cuban migrants into custody at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park last year.

    The rising cost and growing discord of US boat arrivals

    American border officials are encountering a wave of illegal immigration by sea, and there are parallels to Australia’s experience in the not too distant past.

    • Matthew Cranston
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    November 2022

    Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram.

    ‘Our borders are being infiltrated’: Border Force seeks more powers

    Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram says on a ‘good day’ investigators only detect about 20 per cent of illegal drugs being imported.

    • Patrick Durkin

    August 2022

    Leo Skliros

    Mango farmer on the rotten end of skills shortages

    Top End mango farmer Leo Skliros warns at least $20 million of fruit could go to waste because there are too few pickers.

    • Andrew Tillett and Georgie Moore

    June 2022

    Home Affairs says that reducing the number of on-hand visa applications is a top priority.

    How to fix Australia’s broken visa system

    A record 423,000 job vacancies and tens of thousands of unresolved visa applications have made the migration system an urgent political and economic problem for Labor.

    • Tom McIlroy
    Young girl traveler walking with carrying hold suitcase in the airport. Tourist Concept. Photo: iStock

    Skilled worker visa backlog tops 16,000 applications

    Processing timelines for a key visa category have blown out to more than 19 months for half of all potential arrivals.

    • Tom McIlroy and Michael Read
    The 491 visa allows skilled workers to work in regional areas for up to five years.

    Regional visa delays slowing skilled worker arrivals

    The median wait time for skilled workers looking to move to regional Australia is up to six months, with some applicants waiting nearly two years.

    • Tom McIlroy and Michael Read