6/24/2018 $10 million splurge to rename Australian Border Force

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/10-million-splurge-to-rename-australian-border-force-20150826-gj7rz2.html?_ga=2.210718933.19700550… 1/8

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$10 million splurge to rename Australian Border Force

The price of a department's integration? $52,000 per publicservant

What's in a name? If you're the newly created Australian BorderForce, the answer is about $10 million – splashed on military-style

uniforms and thousands of signs at airports and detention centres to create a fresh, hardline image.

The uniform splurge follows recent reports by former detention centre workers that detainees at theAustralian-run camp on Nauru have not been provided proper clothing, forcing parents to cut holes intheir children's ill-fitting shoes.

Australia's newly named paramilitary border force began operating in July, triggering the 10th rebrandingof the immigration bureaucracy since World War II.

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By Nicole Hasham

Updated 26 August 2015 — 10:12pm, first published

at 9:12am

A A A

Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the swearing in ceremony of the inaugural Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg with ImmigrationMinister Peter Dutton last month.

Photo: Andrew Meares

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6/24/2018 $10 million splurge to rename Australian Border Force

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The new name drew ridicule when flagged last year, described variously by critics as "hairy chested",deliberately threatening and a "marketing disaster".

Costings supplied to Fairfax Media shows the government spent $6.3 million kitting out 4500 ABF officialswith new uniforms, insignia, name badges, buttons and safety helmets.

Veteran public servants were reportedly unhappy at being forced to wear the military-style uniform towork after a lifetime of civilian service.

However a department spokeswoman said the new agency and its law enforcement officers must be"properly attired and well equipped".

"It is custom and practice that uniforms and equipment for law enforcement operatives be provided bytheir employer," she said.

At a Senate hearing last month detention centreworkers described as "horrendous" the clothingsituation for detainees at the Nauru detentioncamp.

"Parents actually had to cut holes in their[children's] sneakers because their feet weregrowing too much and their shoes were too small,"said former worker Samantha Betts.

"Children would often ask us to help fix theirthongs, which we tried to do on several occasions …

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The swearing in ceremony of the inaugural Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg.

Photo: Andrew Meares

6/24/2018 $10 million splurge to rename Australian Border Force

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/10-million-splurge-to-rename-australian-border-force-20150826-gj7rz2.html?_ga=2.210718933.19700550… 3/8

with bread ties and bits of string."

Another case worker said a pair of pink hotpantshad been provided to an elderly Burmese woman towear as shorts.

The government spent a further $3.5 million onother rebranding activities such as new livery for300 vehicles, including boats, helicopters and otheraircraft.

New signs were erected at 11 international airportsand more than 700 signs were required for seaports,depots, offices and immigration detention facilities.

About 8000 "Border Watch" signs replaced theprevious "Customs Watch" signs. Thousands ofvessel port and date stamps were also replaced.

A spokeswoman said the money was sourced from the department's budget allocations and came at "noextra expense to taxpayers".

The government has said the creation of the ABF, which consolidated customs and immigration borderoperations, would save hundreds of millions of dollars to be reinvested into the super-charged agency.

Some department insiders were said to be unhappy at the "militarisation" of the new regime. Thedepartment reportedly faces the public service's greatest executive brain drain since the 1980s after aquarter of its upper ranks were either shown the door or left after the merger.

Despite the millions of dollars being spent on the ABF, its employees are facing cuts to pay andentitlements, triggering an internal revolt.

Since 1945 the immigration bureaucracy has been known by various names including the Department ofLabour and Immigration, Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, the Department of Immigrationand Multicultural Affairs and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Customs functions have also been rebranded, including in 2009 when the former Labor governmentdispensed with the Australian Customs Service, renaming it the Australian Customs and BorderProtection Service.

At the time, the Coalition questioned the cost of rebranding, and asked why the name change was neededwhen the government could have simply absorbed border control functions into the Customs Service.

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Nicole Hasham

Nicole Hasham is environment and energy correspondent for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, BrisbaneTimes and WAtoday.

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Australian Border Force officers are represented by theCommunity and Public Sector Union but the Australian FederalPolice Association would like to poach them.

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6/24/2018 $10 million splurge to rename Australian Border Force

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6/24/2018 $10 million splurge to rename Australian Border Force

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6/24/2018 $10 million splurge to rename Australian Border Force

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6/24/2018 $10 million splurge to rename Australian Border Force

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