Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

It is a big call; I agree with the member for Stirling. It is a big call, but it is an accurate call, I think. Yesterday I announced that I would be using my existing powers—as I said at the press conference, they would be powers that are already in the act—to move many more children and families into community detention. This is because I think that in the vast majority of cases there is a better way of dealing with families and children in detention.

The member for Cook is the alternative minister for immigration. If there were a change in government he would be in my place as the minister for immigration. So I think the Australian people have a right to know whether he would use those powers or not. He has been asked, on my last count, about 30 times over the last 24 hours what he would do. Would he use those powers? When he started off, his answer was: ‘Nauru. We would have Nauru, so I would not need to use the powers.’ That did not really work. Then he decided to say: ‘This is just a Greens policy. The government has adopted the Greens policy. It is clearly the Greens policy.’ That did not really work, so now he is saying: ‘They have adopted the Liberal policy. It is really John Howard’s policy.’ It was actually that well-known greenie John Howard’s policy! It cannot be both, as the Prime Minister said in question time today.

Maybe the shadow minister could just settle on a better answer and maybe that better answer would be the truth about what the shadow minister would do if he were in my place. Would he use those powers or not? Would he release more children and families into the community or not? But that would take a straight answer and that would take a bit of thought, something that the shadow minister has not shown much proclivity to bring to this debate. He brings the sound grabs and he brings the cheap lines, but he does not bring much well-considered policy development. Sound grabs come easy, but sound policy is what is actually more important.

I have said in the month or so that I have been Minister for Immigration and Citizenship that our detention system is under pressure.

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