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NZ sold as a backdoor into Australia by people smugglers

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 23 Jan 2018, 7:53AM
Australian authorities are blaming the New Zealand Government's Manus Island resettlement offer. (Photo \ Getty Images)

NZ sold as a backdoor into Australia by people smugglers

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 23 Jan 2018, 7:53AM

Australian authorities are blaming the New Zealand Government's Manus Island resettlement offer, for an apparent spike in attempted people smuggling.

Officials have told The Australian newspaper they've recently intercepted three boats bound for New Zealand.

Australian correspondent Steve Price told Mike Hosking New Zealand is being sold as a "backdoor" into Australia and is undermining Australia's efforts to keep people-smugglers away.

"The smugglers have actually sold them New Zealand as a destination. So what's happened here is the sugar's back on the table and that's always the fear Australia's had.

"If you can get out there, get on the water, and get picked up, the Kiwis say they might take you off Manus Island. You might have to go there for a year, you might have to go there for two years, once you get to New Zealand, getting to Australia gets much, much easier."

The newspaper quoted a source saying there was evidence the recent spike in people-smuggling activity marketing New Zealand had followed the Ardern government's offer to take asylum-seekers from the Australian offshore detention centres.

The source within the new Department of Home Affairs said there had been recent "high level" chatter from countries such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia in which New Zealand was being pushed as a destination for asylum-seekers.

"It confirms what our intelligence has been telling us: people-smuggling syndicates remain active in our region and continue to market their services using false promises of settlement in Australia or New Zealand," said the source.

"Whether or not people-smugglers genuinely intend for their boats to reach New Zealand, it is clear that they are using publicity around New Zealand's resettlement offer to market their services to vulnerable people in Sri Lanka and elsewhere."

However it appeared there was little likelihood any boat would reach New Zealand, leaving Australian authorities to deal with boatloads of refugees.

- additional reporting, NZ Herald

LISTEN ABOVE AS STEVE PRICE SPEAKS WITH MIKE HOSKING

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