Sussan Ley slams ‘unacceptable’ rise in people smuggling ventures amid revelations ABF is buying cray boats

Authorities have intercepted 10 people smuggling boats this year — including two last month alone — amid revelations the Albanese Government is buying crayfishing boats to help turn them back.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, speaking in Perth, slammed the surge in smuggling ventures heading for West Australian shores as unacceptable and said Labor had to get its “border control under control”.

The latest Operation Sovereign Borders figures come as The West Australian revealed the Australian Border Force has been purchasing the vessels — worth up to $400,000 — in the midwest town of Geraldton.

The boats are used for training marine operations teams — practising the dicey high sea manoeuvres needed to intercept people smuggling ventures, illegal fishers and drug rings — and a variety of other purposes.

That can include carrying asylum seekers found on unseaworthy vessels back to Indonesia.

The Government and Border Force have continued to refuse to comment on operational matters, including the intended use for the vessels and whether cray boats awaiting loading onto a larger ship at the Henderson maritime precinct — photographed by The West Australian — on Tuesday were among those purchased.

Border Force officials intercepted two people smuggling ventures and returned 13 people to their country of origin in August.

In July, three ventures were intercepted with 37 people returned to their country of origin and another 11 sent for offshore processing in Nauru.

There were two found in June and one in each of May, April and March.

In all the cases, the people on board were either flown to Nauru or turned back to their starting point, which is typically Indonesia.

Since May 2022, when Labor won office, there have been a total of 37 people-smuggling boats picked up.

Ms Ley said that was “an unacceptably high number” and that there seemed to have been a surge coming towards the WA coast.

“Many have been intercepted, and I always commend the strong work of Border Force, but we’ve had at least 35 boats come,” she told reporters in Applecross.

“All of this work is done by Home Affairs, by Border Force … I just want to signal to them how much we value what they do, often behind the scenes, (and) that they need to be backed in by a government that has the policies in place that discourage these boat arrivals in the first place.”

Asked whether it was appropriate for taxpayers to be purchasing boats that were handed to people smugglers, Ms Ley said, “If more boats come, more boats have to be handed over. Get your border control under control.

In 2024, authorities intercepted 16 people smuggling ventures carrying a total of 274 passengers.

Operation Sovereign Borders commander Rear Admiral Brett Sonter told senators earlier this year there had been an increased pace of people smugglers being intercepted in 2024 compared with the year before.

Australia has used a range of solutions for the so-called rickety boats problem in the past, including bright orange lifeboats and purpose-built vessels made in Vietnam that resembled fishing boats commonly used across southeast Asia.

City of Greater Geraldton mayor Jerry Clune said the “novel” arrangement of now buying old cray boats was news to him, and seemed pretty unusual.

However, he thought there was a ready market of second-hand boats for authorities to choose from.

“It’s a different marketing ploy, isn’t it?” he said.

“Who would have thought there’d be a market for used cray boats to the illegal fishermen.”