16th Jun 2015, 4:14 PM – Senate Documents — Australian Customs Service; Order for the Production of Documents — Paying people smugglers

The majority of Senators voted in favour of the following motion by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young:

That—

(a) there be laid on the table by the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, by 3 pm on 17 June 2015, all documents containing information pertaining to:

• (i) any money paid to anyone on board a vessel en route to Australia or New Zealand by any Customs, Immigration or other Commonwealth officer from September 2013 to date, and

• (ii) the facilitation or authorisation of the payment of any money to anyone on board a vessel en route to Australia or New Zealand by any Customs, Immigration or other Commonwealth officer from September 2013 to date, and

in relation to any such payment, a document containing information pertaining to the details of the interception of the vessel, the amount of money paid, to whom and for what purpose; and

(b) there be laid on the table by the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, by 3 pm on 17 June 2015, any documents produced by the Office of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection or the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service regarding:

• (i) the interception of a vessel en route to Australia or New Zealand in May 2015,

• (ii) any orders to turn back or take back that vessel, its passengers or crew,

• (iii) any payments made to the vessel’s captain, crew or passengers, and

• (iv) any payments made in relation to the passage of the vessel, its passengers or crew.