Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I just assumed that all members of the House would want to congratulate the police who have worked on this matter. They were the ones to whom my congratulations were directed. I understand that the member opposite may not join me in that but I am sure that many members of this House would congratulate the police on their work. Can I say in relation to the shadow minister's question that after arrests are made prosecutions have to follow. The Attorney-General's Department is working with the Commonwealth Director of Prosecutions to ensure appropriate resourcing for prosecutions of people smugglers and appropriate follow-up of cases. Clearly the shadow minister's question is directed to a budget measure where we are looking for efficiencies. We are looking for efficiencies across agencies, across the Public Service. I would remind the shadow minister, if he is in any way concerned about these things, that the savings that the Leader of the Opposition presented and then spent on other priorities during the election campaign actually had sharper cuts to public sector activity and presumably very sharp cuts, therefore, to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. We will continue, through the Attorney-General's Department, to work with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to ensure rigorous people-smuggling prosecutions and, of course, the maintenance of effort on prosecutions under all Commonwealth laws.

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