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

I welcome the contribution to the debate today by the member for Cook. Just a few facts: the three years with the largest number of asylum seekers over the last 15 years were under the Howard government—1999, 2000 and 2001. The highest number of boats in any one year arriving in Australia was under the Howard government, in 1999. The largest number of asylum seekers in one year was under the Howard government, in 2001. The single-largest vessel to arrive in Australia was under the Howard government, with 359 people. So let us just put all that into a bit of context.

Secondly, what I would say in response to the member for Cook is as follows. He referred to asylum seekers who are in various processing centres on the mainland. He has been contributing to this debate in recent days. In fact, he was on 2GB—I presume—where he said the following:

Now, it is not for the first time this has happened—

He is referring to people being processed onshore and being accommodated temporarily in some form of hotel or motel accommodation. He said:

I should be upfront with the people about this, Ray—

I presume that is Ray Hadley—

when there was that massive surge of arrivals that occurred back in 1999,2000 and 2001, we had to do that when we were in government for that very brief period of time.

The problem is, as he knows, they kept doing it. It did not stop in 1999; it did not stop in 2000. It went on to 2001. And here are the facts: in 2004-05—this is what the member for Cook neglected to tell Ray Hadley this morning—the Howard government budgeted $1.8 million for community and hotel based detention. That was in 2004-05. Then in 2004 the Howard government was spending approximately $80,000 a month to house two asylum seekers at the Arkaba Hotel in Adelaide. I hope it was a nice hotel! What the member for Cook neglected, I am sure, to tell 2GB this morning was that, in December 2006, under the Howard government there were something like 20 or 30 detainees living in private hotels and serviced apartments and 57 detainees living in residential housing. Hotels like the Comfort Asti Inn in Darwin, the Colonel in Brisbane—

See this speech in context