Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Further to my answer to the honourable member’s question: as the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship has said multiple times in the parliament and outside the parliament, the government has for a long period indicated that, if further capacity is needed at various other locations within the country, of course we would have recourse to that. I would draw the honourable member’s attention to my earlier answer, in which I pointed out that, on previous occasions during the time of the ‘Pacific solution’, the government at that stage brought various asylum seekers to processing centres within Australia.

I say to the honourable member therefore: I know consistency is not the first virtue of the opposition on any matter of policy. I know it is not the first virtue of the opposition when it comes to asylum seekers policy. I know it is not the first virtue of the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to any policy, but I say this to the honourable member who asked the question: the government, through the immigration minister, has been absolutely consistent about the measures which any proper government would put in place against future contingencies. I say again to the honourable member, as I did at the outset of my answer, that Christmas Island at present is not at capacity.

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