Home Affairs officials pressured to release controversial Border Force statement on election day: report

A report by department secretary Mike Pezzullo, published on Friday afternoon, has shown the former Coalition government pressured the Home Affairs Department to release, and amplify, a public statement on election day regarding a vessel interception.

The top boss's report provided a timeline of the events of May 21, which began with a direction from the office of former home affairs minister Karen Andrews to issue a statement about the incident minutes before midday - while Australians were going to the polls.

The unusual action is in stark contrast to former prime minister Scott Morrison's time as immigration minister between 2013 and 2014, when he often refused to comment on maritime interceptions, terming them "on-water matters".

Ms Andrews' office, which said it was acting on instructions from the former prime minister's office, said it required the statement be completed and published within 15 minutes, according to Mr Pezzullo's report.

The secretary informed department officials that a statement couldn't be published until the then-opposition had been briefed.

An hour later, a Coalition staffer sent a text message asking "What on earth is the issue?" after they could not find the statement online.

A department official responded: "It always takes a few mins to go live - I have no idea how it works but we can't influence it. We are calling IT."

"A lot of people are furious," the ministerial staffer responded.

Mr Morrison held a press conference shortly after, answering a reporter's question about the incident at 1.06pm.

The drafted statement went live on the Australian Border Force's media page at 1.09pm, according to the report's timeline.

Home Affairs staff acted with integrity and in line with caretaker requirements, Mr Pezzullo's report stated, refusing to amplify the statement through its social media accounts despite requests from ministerial staffers.

The report said there was no evidence to suggest that department officials were aware of the Liberal Party's plans to tweet and send text messages relating to the Border Force statement.

"Any domestic amplification was judged by officials to be primarily for political purposes. Accordingly, they declined the relevant requests," Mr Pezzullo wrote.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the Morrison government sabotaged its established protocols for its own political gain.

"Their actions undermined the integrity of this complex operation, making it more difficult and dangerous," Ms O'Neil said in a statement on Friday.

"It was disgraceful, shameful, and characteristic of a national government which frequently pursued political interests above the national interest.

"That is something the Albanese government will never do."

READ MORE:

The former Morrison government spent its final campaign days and hours warning voters a vote for Labor would risk border security.

The Liberal Party used the election day announcement to blast out text messages to voters around the country, including key marginal seats across NSW and Victoria, urging voters to choose the party in order to "keep our borders secure".

The messages persuaded recipients to vote for the Liberals, referencing Border Force's statement.

Ms Andrews said the political messaging was not "scaremongering" but the "reality" of the situation.

"We have seen now the risks that people are prepared to take to come to Australia by boat because they think that there's potential for a Labor government to be elected today," she said on election day in her Gold Coast electorate.

"That would mean for the people smugglers that they were back in business.

"These could have ended in very tragic circumstances for those people attempting to come to Australia by ocean."