Australian Customs - Deterrent to Visiting Oz ?

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Factor

Why?

I'm guessing few if any of the yachts at Hammo fell under ACS control, they would have had no powers whatsoever in respect of the fleet generally. If the first we knew of an indo fishing boat was in the whitsunday passage then I think we have some issues.

Exactly, but I have to say I had more flyovers and saw more ACS activity in this area than I saw on the entire east coast of QLD.

I think it is the proximity to steak sandwiches and beers myself, going on observations of their vessels parked close to resorts.

Never saw them at all when we sailed in more remote areas to the north, where illegal traffic would come from.

[ausaviator]

estarzinger, what flag is your boat and what nationality were the crew?

In all honesty, they probably had a tip-off about a yacht arriving from Indonesia with drugs on-board.

[bill good]

They came on board my boat when in the Whitsundays waters & asked if I had seen anything on the water that might not be above board, thank me & left. Even handing out key floats. There has been attempts to bring in large quantity of prohibited drugs in private boats (most of which had been identified before their arrival) but the services are still required as a part of boarder security. Nothing to fear from folks doing the right thing.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

(in fact, they did ask for permission to come aboard and their drug dog was wearing soft shoes not to mark our boat). Not only this, they also asked if anybody has allergy or fear of dogs before proceeding.

The dog that searched us as we were heading out also had socks so as not to mark, not that I was worried about them.
But the handlers did not.
They had black kicker boots and they did mark the decks and they got quite aggressive when told to take their shoes off and refused to to so.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

estarzinger, what flag is your boat and what nationality were the crew?

In all honesty, they probably had a tip-off about a yacht arriving from Indonesia with drugs on-board.

They can have all in the Intel in the world, they still must act lawfully and in accordance with the Act.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by bill good

They came on board my boat when in the Whitsundays waters & asked if I had seen anything on the water that might not be above board, thank me & left. Even handing out key floats. There has been attempts to bring in large quantity of prohibited drugs in private boats (most of which had been identified before their arrival) but the services are still required as a part of boarder security. Nothing to fear from folks doing the right thing.

Just a quick jurisdictional issue here, I have no problem with inviting ACS aboard my boat, I welcome their visit, but I make it clear they have no power to board if I have not exited/entered Australia, but they are most welcome to come aboard provided they comply with my safety and property protection rules. If they are not willing to they are not welcom and indeed permission is not provided and they would be entering the vessel unlawfully.

[Knowazark]

Just a quick jurisdictional issue here, I have no problem with inviting ACS aboard my boat, I welcome their visit, but I make it clear they have no power to board if I have not exited/entered Australia, but they are most welcome to come aboard provided they comply with my safety and property protection rules. If they are not willing to they are not welcom and indeed permission is not provided and they would be entering the vessel unlawfully.

So, if I was the skipper of a visiting yacht (registered in another country) and had already undergone the entrance and clearance procedures, would ACS still have the jurisdiction and power to board the vessel and conduct searches, etc?

Just curious.

[Factor]

Yes they would - i was referring to an australian citizen on an australian vessel that had not left/reentered Australia

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by cat man do

The dog that searched us as we were heading out also had socks so as not to mark, not that I was worried about them.
But the handlers did not.
They had black kicker boots and they did mark the decks and they got quite aggressive when told to take their shoes off and refused to to so.

Next time steer for Cairns. We had a very nice clearance at a very nice floating dock. There were many people coming - I believe at least three different kinds of offices. But they did let me have a look at an underwater issue I thought I had there with their underwater camera they used to check our bottom. Saved me some diving in salties and man-o-war infested waters.

b.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Factor

Why?

I'm guessing few if any of the yachts at Hammo fell under ACS control, they would have had no powers whatsoever in respect of the fleet generally. If the first we knew of an indo fishing boat was in the whitsunday passage then I think we have some issues.

One has to remember that the hammo fleet is not just Sydney money. There are numerous boats from all over the continent. There is often several internationals also. What Coast Watch was doing was simply raising awareness. If it caught one boat full of white powder from asia.- happy days.

Indo fishing boats, as you know are usually northern and west coast issues. But as mentioned, the boats come from everywhere.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Factor

Just a quick jurisdictional issue here, I have no problem with inviting ACS aboard my boat, I welcome their visit, but I make it clear they have no power to board if I have not exited/entered Australia, but they are most welcome to come aboard provided they comply with my safety and property protection rules. If they are not willing to they are not welcom and indeed permission is not provided and they would be entering the vessel unlawfully.

Ehem.. Unless perhaps they believe you may have interacted with a vessel that has not cleared I would assume.

There are so many armchair lawyers, myself included, that believe we know the Law. The fact is that ACS, Police etc may not use a law that we know of. Lets face it, they use the law everyday. While some people have even quoted the law in this thread, they haven't quoted it in its entirety. Because, to do so would take hours of copying pasting information from every law ever passed. Understanding it, would take a degree specializing in international and federal law.

[Factor]

Ehem - their belief is immaterial at law, unless it is a reasonable belief, i.e. a fairly held belief based on reasonable grounds. Not just a "could have".

I am not an armchair lawyer, and I do have 30 years experience in Law enforcement, state and federal. If you think I have got it wrong, please by all means correct me, referencing the appropriate act/section.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Factor

Ehem - their belief is immaterial at law, unless it is a reasonable belief, i.e. a fairly held belief based on reasonable grounds. Not just a "could have".

I am not an armchair lawyer, and I do have 30 years experience in Law enforcement, state and federal. If you think I have got it wrong, please by all means correct me, referencing the appropriate act/section.

Factor, you would know exactly what I mean. I have a mate in the NSW police force. Perps are always quoting some belief in the law that they have no idea about. Thats the point I am trying to make. That professionals in law enforcement "know the laws".

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

estarzinger, what flag is your boat and what nationality were the crew?

In all honesty, they probably had a tip-off about a yacht arriving from Indonesia with drugs on-board.

Perhaps, American flag and crew (2).

I don't think there was another yacht entry into the port for several months.

I am certainly not an expert on policing, but I would have thought they would have been better of having me below while they were searching, to see if I get extra nervous as they approach and specific areas of the boat or start telling inconsistent stories. As it was, if I had been bringing in drugs I don't think they would have found them - just for instance I have 400 lts of sealed aluminum fuel tanks integral to the hull that they did not look in or even check contained fuel - I would have guessed that drugs seals on the bottom covered by diesel would have gone by. Also, probably if I was an organized drug runner I would have dropped them off the boat the prior night with a pick-up buoy.

One sort of interesting factoid is that the Australian dog and the Chilean dog both found most of our $100USD bills. I was told later (in Chile) that 75% of these bills in circulation outside the US have cocaine impregnated in them. Not sure if its really true but the dogs did seem to find them pretty reliably.

I agree with B that Cairns has a good reputation as an port of entry. We had a good entry there in 1995, but that was of course before 9-11 and the 96 hr rule and the war on terrorism and illegal immigration.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Next time steer for Cairns.

Like I said, we were heading OUT
Fek knows why they would want to go that hard on us LEAVING a country, you'd think they'd be happy to see all the contraband (not that there was any) going out instead of coming in.
Plus it was a delivery.
Going from Brisbane to Cairns to meet nice customs guys is further than our passage from Brisbane to Vanuatu and, who would pay for it?