By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A GREATER Dandenong councillor has likened random visa checks by Australian Border Force officers to tactics of the Stasi and Nazi regimes.
Cr Peter Brown, in response to the “appalling” joint Operation Fortitude by the ABF and Victoria Police that was cancelled in Melbourne’s CBD last weekend, asked in a statement: “Do we really want ‘black shirts’ standing outside our Civic Centre checking visas?”
Cr Brown said the operation was designed to “make people look on their neighbours with suspicion, exactly what the Stasi and Nazi informers encouraged in their time”.
“Since when in Australia has our freedom to walk the streets been contingent upon having proof of citizenship?
“This is what Italian fascists did before World War II, what the execrable Nazis did to identify, label and eliminate Jews, what the Stasi did after (World War II) to ensure that only communists were free to walk the streets of (East) Germany.”
Cr Brown said such checks would racially profile people of non-Anglo Saxon appearance.
“This is not why my father fought the Germans in the Middle East in (World War II) ….
“He fought for the freedom to walk our streets the way we do today and killed those who stood in the way of that freedom.”
In his notice of motion, Cr Brown will call for the Municipal Association of Victoria to adopt a “statewide policy of opposition” to ABF random visa checks.
On 28 August, Operation Fortitude was cancelled after protestors objected at the scene of a scheduled press conference and launch at Flinders Street station.
In an ABF statement, its Victoria and Tasmania regional commander Don Smith was quoted: “ABF officers will be positioned at various locations around the CBD speaking with any individual we cross paths with.
“You need to be aware of the conditions of your visa; if you commit visa fraud you should know it’s only a matter of time before you’re caught out.”
Later that day, ABF commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg said the force’s role in the operation was “misunderstood”.
He said the ABF was to play a “secondary but supporting assist” in the police’s operation to create a “safe city environment”.
“The Australian Border Force will stand by to receive the referrals from the Victorian Police where there are any immigration compliance issues to be enforced or dealt with.
“There was never any intent for the Australian Border Force to proactively go out and seek immigration breaches out in Melbourne city.”
Police Minister Wade Noonan, in a statement on 28 August, said the operation was cancelled due to its “unfortunate and innappropriate characterisation” by the ABF.
