TRANSCRIPT - RADIO INTERVIEW - TSIMA 4MW WITH JEN ENOSA - THURSDAY 30 JULY 2026

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

JEN ENOSA – TSIMA 4MW

THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2026

SUBJECTS: Illegal fishing in the Torres Strait, Operation BROADSTAFF, and the Border Force in the Torres Strait.

JEN ENOSA: Now, well, okay, we mentioned this week a few visitors would come, and one of them travelling throughout the Torres Strait and having a look at this big area, [indistinct] where is scattered between the Australian mainland and PNG mainland, and within this [indistinct] area, you’ve got all small, small islands, and recently [indistinct] we’ve had an influx of the illegal fishing activities maybe taking place being less than before. A lot of that activity was happening over in the western part of Australia, like the Western Australian area and then they become Northern Territory. And from there because our government put pressure on them, they all come this way now to the Torres Strait and hence the Operation Broadstaff. It has been put into action. And I don’t know, if [indistinct] Rear Admiral Brett Sonter a couple of times on the program updating us on what’s been happening. And yesterday I had a chance to meet up with the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, who was in the region.

TONY BURKE: [Indistinct]. It’s really great to be able to talk to you again.

ENOSA: What brings you to the Torres Strait.

BURKE: It’s in my – I’ve been coming here a lot of over the years, and this time it’s the first time I’ve had a visit in the context of the Home Affairs portfolio. And

effectively we’ve seen over the last couple of years organised crime try to make more inroads in breaking the Australian border. And as we had success at the

Kimberley, they moved east to the Territory, and as we had success at the Territory, they’ve moved east to the Torres Strait. And so I wanted to be able to get a better understanding of it myself, be able to talk to community about the exact impact and really work out how we can build a more effective partnership than we’ve ever had. Because ultimately the coastline is so big and this part of the border is the most complex part of the entire border for Australia. And so this is something that we can really only do together in partnership.

ENOSA: What are the issues or requests that you’re hearing from the community stakeholders?

BURKE: Every conversation I’ve had, people want better information shared, they want to be able to know how they can be of assistance. They also want to see the maximum possible, I guess you’d say, investment from the government, whether it’s people, whether it’s empowering people already there. It’s about wanting to make sure that, you know, a shared concern where people want to be able to keep each other safe, how can we best work together and also how can the Commonwealth Government both, you know, put down that down payment to make clear that we’re doing our part as well.

ENOSA: We understand that the Torres Strait Treaty Joint Advisory Committee meeting will be held in coming months in Papua New Guinea. What are you doing to prepare for this?

BURKE: Yeah, look, the Treaty negotiations aren’t led by me. Any Treaty negotiation has particular involvement from the Foreign Minister. I’ve had some involvement with the Treaty right back to 2007 when I was first coming up here as Fisheries Minister. So I appreciate for the Torres Strait how much is at stake whenever the Treaty is being discussed. Effectively the lead on any Treaty negotiation goes to the Foreign Minister. But I will say we just need to make sure that we are constantly, constantly ensuring that the Treaty is something that really serves win-win outcomes where you get really good outcomes for the people of the Torres Strait.

ENOSA: The Treaty turned 40. Does it need to be reviewed?

BURKE: Look, I don’t want to get in advance of the negotiations other than to simply say it needs to have – you need to make sure that you’re always giving the best possible outcomes. There’s so much at stake both in the movement of people but also in making sure that fishing stocks are being managed properly. And, you know, so I want to make clear the importance of the negotiations, but I don’t want to get in front of them.

ENOSA: Okay. Minister, we hear a lot about illegal fishing, as you mentioned. Community members tell us [indistinct] is being sold in Nauru. The department are

heading Operation BROADSTAFF, but we haven’t heard much about this for months. Are you aware of the [indistinct] issue, and what is being done to tackle

illegal fishing.

BURKE: Yeah, look, the operation you referred to is something that Matt Smith campaigned really hard for us to get started on, and I’m really proud that we’ve been able to get moving with it. You know, simple figures, it’s in the order of about 26 vessels that have been intercepted since we started that. Roughly half of them have been destroyed. When people come and fish illegally in the waters of the Torres Strait, they are stealing. It is straight theft, and it needs to be treated as theft. And people who thought they could get away with it have discovered that they’re committing an offence, they don’t get away with it, they lose the catch and in at least half the situations they’ve lost their vessel completely. And we have to take a hard line because think of the alternative. The alternative is a complete free-for-all, and then the people of the Torres Strait would lose their fishing stocks. So, you know, we really make no apology for taking such a hard line on illegal fishing.

ENOSA: You’ve been to Saibai, Minister, we understand. So what’s happening with the community safety and security facility on Saibai that’s still not being used to its full potential.

BURKE: So the old Border Force facility was retired on Saibai, and when I saw it today I can see exactly why it had been retired earlier this year. We’re not far away. We’re down to weeks, really, before the new facility arrives. And from everything I’ve been told it will be it a first-class facility, and that’s exactly, exactly what we should have there for Border Force on Saibai. The old Border Force facility was retired a few months ago. And in a few weeks’ time there will be a new Border Force facility there. In the meantime, Border Force is part of that other really impressive facility shared by the Australian Federal Police, Queensland Police and Border Force are there as well. I went there today and, in particular, just thank the officers who work there. Of all the different border operations we have in Australia, this is the most complex. And it doesn't matter how many times you look at it on a map, until I landed in Saibai today and just saw how

close Papua New Guinea is, I hadn’t had an appreciation of the complexity of the border. And also of just how specialised our officers are in knowing very quickly from the different villages who’s allowed to be there, who’s not allowed to be there, so we can get on top of any problems very quickly.

ENOSA: We understand that the department has offered voluntary redundancies. Have we lot many in the Torres Strait, any jobs? If yes, will these jobs be filled?

BURKE: The voluntary redundancies get offered across the entirety of the portfolio. So, you know, right through to areas like people who are managing multicultural grants or a whole lot of different work that's done across the department. Once those voluntary redundancies come in, we then work out where we redeploy. The fact that we have put such a focus on the Torres Strait should give people confidence that we know the resources that are required here. And I met two people at the bar at where I was staying on Thursday Island last night – a man by the name of Wolfgang and another man by the name of Peter. Wolfgang had started with the old immigration compliance back in 1996. Peter has been doing it since about the year 2000. When they started, the work was an hour a day, and now they are full time, they have a level of specialist knowledge. That sort of loyalty to Australia, to the Torres Strait, to keeping people safe is exactly what we value most.

ENOSA: All right. Minister, Tony Burke, do you have anything else to say?

BURKE: Look, I’ve been coming to the Torres Strait since 2007. One of the people who I met last night I’ve known since then – Wayne See Kee. I met him in his

capacity years ago when I was Fisheries Minister. I’ve come back in the Environment portfolio, and I’m now here in Home Affairs. This is a critical part of Australia. It’s one of the – it’s the most complex border that we have. We just need to work together to keep people safe.

ENOSA: Thank you very much for your time.

BURKE: Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

ENDS