On the Monday after the 2022 federal election, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) deputy secretary emailed another senior staff member with concerns about the backlog of passport applications.
“As you know, there is a very high level of demand for passports,” deputy secretary Craig Maclachlan wrote to assistant secretary Marco Salvio on 21 May.
The demand had gotten so bad, he said, that the foreign minister’s office had been bombarded with 10 to 20 calls a day with people trying to get help. And once the media started reporting in early June about the widespread delay, they got even worse.
New emails obtained by Crikey reveal that the incoming government scrambled to respond to an influx of passport applications that had begun under the Morrison government after 1.8 million Australians let their passports expire while international borders were closed.
A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong pointed the finger at the Morrison government for failure to prepare.
“Shortly after assuming office, the foreign minister and assistant foreign minister were informed of passport processing delays as a result of the Liberals and Nationals’ failure to plan for a predictable post-COVID surge in applications,” they said in response to Crikey’s questions.
Former foreign minister Marise Payne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Emails show that DFAT staff briefed Wong’s staff on the issue shortly after taking office.
“Would you be able to send through a soft copy of the A3 Passport brief you provided us last week?” an unnamed Wong staffer emailed deputy secretary Maclachlan on June 7.
Before Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts sent out the government’s first media release acknowledging the delays, DFAT staff discussed how to share the government’s response while the mechanics were still being hammered out.
“I think you can add ‘minimum’ to the line about 250 staff being onboarded,” Maclachlan responded to a draft version of Watts’ release.
“We are going to have to work out with Services Australia the detail over the next 24 hours. Anything more is difficult.”
Meanwhile, the increasing media coverage of the delays only exacerbated the problem. Figures circulated to DFAT staff show that daily passport applications spiked from 11,054 on June 6 to 16,417 on June 7 — a record daily figure that had never previously been above 15,000.
The emails also show how staff debated how to speak to the public’s frustrations with the hold-ups. When DFAT’s Tanya Bennett recommended including travel advice as part of their messaging around the delays, another unnamed staff member emailed back saying that such advice might seem a bit tone deaf.
“I take your point re the smartraveller messaging opportunity, but I think this will be counterproductive to be telling people in relation to their frustrations with APO delays that they should be travel ready,” they wrote.
