Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for this question. She has had a longstanding interest in ensuring that our immigration policies are appropriate. Of course considerations of health concerns are serious ones and if raised properly would be issues that should be part of this discussion. In fact, most people in this House would be aware that one of the key purposes of a mandatory detention policy is to ensure that health, identity and security checks can be properly undertaken. We believe that these processes are a prudent course of action and an appropriate precaution.

However, I do not think that it assists the debate on this very serious issue to have members of the opposition comparing asylum seekers to cattle that spread foot and mouth disease. It is important to ensure that any people coming to and settling in our community are not going to spread disease. We take necessary, careful and precautionary action. One of the key reasons that we have a mandatory detention policy is to ensure that adequate health checks can be undertaken while people are detained to ensure that the community is properly protected.

As I said, I do not think that it assists the debate at all to have outrageous comparisons being made. It would serve all in the House well to go back to the basics. It is a policy that was adhered to by a previous Labor government; it was a policy that was adhered to by the previous coalition government. Health checks have always been a fundamental part of our immigration policies and particularly our mandatory detention policies. It might be well if the Leader of the Opposition could remind some members of his party to keep that in mind and take a sensible approach to ensure that health checks can be undertaken but that we do not have inflammatory comments made that might turn this into an even uglier debate.

See this speech in context