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Former independent MP Tony Windsor has hit out at a bungled operation that would have seen people stopped for passport checks on the streets of Melbourne, telling ABC radio he had no doubt that some in the Abbott government "hopes that something goes wrong domestically".
Speaking on ABC radio national current affairs program AM, Mr Windsor said the Border Force operation was no mistake, but a "deliberate agenda to create fear in the community".
Mr Windsor said: "I've got no doubt that some of these people in Abbott's government hope that something goes wrong domestically. That they can taunt a Muslim into doing something so that they can say that we're the only ones that can protect you, the Labor party are too weak to protect you, vote for us," he said, adding, "I think that's an extraordinary agenda to go to an election on."
His comments came more than a month after he announced he would consider returning to politics, after the disappointment at the conditional approval of the Shenhua Watermark coal mine on the Liverpool Plains in northern NSW.
"I am considering it [but] haven't made a firm decision one way or the other," he said in July.
"The worst thing in terms of governance they can use is to create fear within their own community": @TonyHWindsor #BorderForce— ABC Current Affairs (@amworldtodaypm)
August 28, 2015
#BorderForce announcement wasn't a mistake, it was a deliberate agenda to create fear in the community: @TonyHWindsor #OperationFortitude— ABC Current Affairs (@amworldtodaypm)
August 28, 2015
#OperationFortitude was to create circumstances akin to the Tampa affair where people suddenly rush to one side of the debate: @TonyHWindsor— ABC Current Affairs (@amworldtodaypm)
August 28, 2015
On Friday evening the Abbott government remained under pressure to explain why the police-led operation including the Australian Border Force involved stopping people for visa checks - a measure independent Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie compared to East Germany's Stasi.
Federal MP Clive Palmer offered his own assessment of the operation on Twitter, likening it to 1930's Germany.
The Australian Border Force began in July and combined Customs and Immigration functions. Officers have more powers than former department officials, including the power to detain offenders, carry guns, and gather intelligence.
Abbott owes Australians an apology. We saw what Gestapo powers did in Germany in 1930's. We don't want that repeated in our country. #auspol— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer)
August 28, 2015
Abbott should abolish his border force now before it destroys Australia's way of life. #Goodbye border thugs, goodbye. #auspol— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer)
August 28, 2015