Statement on the abuse of Australian passports
Statement to Parliament
25 February 2010
On the 20th of January this year, senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found murdered in a hotel room in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
On the 16th of February, police in Dubai announced that falsified passports from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany had been used in connection with the case.
Late on the 22nd of February, Dubai authorities approached Australian officials in the UAE with an enquiry about two Australian passports in possible connection with the murder.
Late on the 23rd of February this week, Dubai authorities confirmed to Australian officials that they were investigating the use of a total of three Australian passports in connection with the murder.
Since that time, Australian officials have been fully cooperating with the Dubai authorities in their investigations.
Yesterday, Wednesday the 24th of February, I spoke to my counterpart, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah.
I advised him that the Australian Government was taking the matter extremely seriously and that the Australian Government, its officials and its agencies would continue to fully cooperate with Dubai authorities.
Overnight, Dubai authorities announced publicly that, in connection with the murder, they were investigating three people who had used Australian passports.
The passports concerned were under the names of Joshua Bruce, Adam Korman and Nicole McCabe.
The Australian Government is very gravely concerned that these Australian passports appear to have been used fraudulently.
The Government has asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate the possible fraudulent use of these passports.
The Australian Federal Police will conduct a full investigation with the assistance of the Australian Passport Office and other relevant agencies, including the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO.
The Australian Federal Police will continue to cooperate closely with authorities in Dubai in the investigation into the murder of al-Mabhouh.
Preliminary analysis by the Australian Federal Police, together with the Australian Passport Office, shows that the three Australian passports appear to have been duplicated or altered.
At this stage, Australian officials have no information, no information to suggest that the three Australian passport holders were involved in any way, other than as victims of passport or identity fraud.
The Australian Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the misuse and the abuse of Australian passports.
Mr Deputy Speaker, earlier this morning I called in Israeli Ambassador to Australia, Ambassador Yuval Rotem.
I made it clear to the Ambassador that the Australian Government regards this as a matter of the gravest concern.
I underlined to Ambassador Rotem that Australia expected the Israeli Government, its officials and its agencies, to cooperate fully and transparently with the Australian Federal Police investigation into this matter.
Mr Deputy Speaker, we will all be rightly concerned about the impact this incident will have on the Australians concerned, and their families.
Officials from the Australian Passport Office have been in the process of contacting Mr Bruce, Mr Korman, and Ms McCabe and their families.
We will, of course, offer the three Australians full consular support and assistance.
The Australian Government is committed to ensuring the integrity of Australia's passports.
Considerable resources and effort is put into ensuring the integrity of the Australian passport.
Indeed, Australia is a recognised leader in the development and implementation of secure passport technology.
Regrettably, no document is ever completely safe from people who try to tamper with it for criminal or illegal purposes.
The three passports in question here were issued in 2003.
Since that time there have been a number of significant enhancements to Australian passports.
The Australian Government will continue to make the security and integrity of the Australian passport system one of its highest priorities.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I will keep the House informed of developments in this matter.
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