Editorial: Tough talk not enough to keep borders secure and save lives

The ancient Greeks called it hubris.

The excessive over-confidence, edging towards arrogance, that so often precedes a humiliating failure.

There’s no better example than Australian Border Force boasting about being tough on borders — just a few hours before dozens of asylum seekers turned up on a beach ay Beagle Bay, 100km north of Broome.

“(We have) intercepted three Indonesian fishing vessels operating illegally within the Kimberley Marine Park in separate events,” the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and ABF said in a joint statement.

And there was even greater hubris in an emoji-laden Facebook post from the ABF which read: “You can run but you can’t hide! #ourboatsarefaster Australia continues to ensure that those illegally fishing in Australian waters are caught.”

Authorities were blindsided by the arrival of men, who are believed to all be from Pakistan.

Worryingly, it’s the second time in a matter of months a boat has arrived undetected on WA shores. A group vessel carrying about a dozen people from Indonesia arrived in the Kimberley in November, trekking for days through the heat before turning up at the Truscott North Kimberley Airport.

This cannot continue. There’s a reason Australians largely supported Operation Sovereign Borders’ mission to “stop the boats”. Putting aside the three-word slogans (and soon-to-be-departed ex-immigration minister Scott Morrison’s ludicrous self-awarded trophy) people were dying in their hundreds en route to Australia. It was a tragic and unacceptable chapter of our national history.

These latest arrivals follow the immigration detention debacle in which 149 detainees — killers and rapists among them — were released into the community.

The conversation on borders has been had. Australians are unwavering on the need to keep them secure.

Labor must show it is up to the task.