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

I was asked about the statement of the Minister for Foreign Affairs about turning boats around and I am explaining the factual circumstances. I know the opposition does not like facts, but facts are important. We have heard bleating today about human rights issues—bleat, bleat, bleat from the opposition—when the policy that they went to the last election with was that the Leader of the Opposition would direct patrol boat commanders to take boats to Indonesia, not refugee signatories, and he would not have cared less what happened to them afterwards—men, women and children. To pretend that he did is absurd nonsense. The hypocrisy of this is truly remarkable. The shadow minister for immigration is on the record saying he does not care less about refugee signatory countries.

So the answer to the deputy leader's question is this: I so much agree with the statement of the Minister for Foreign Affairs that turning boats around is effective deterrence that I have worked with the minister for immigration in the modern circumstances where the crime of people smuggling has changed and where the attitude of Indonesia is different—I have worked with the minister for immigration to create a circumstance where, in effect, we are turning boats around—that is, people come here and they end up on a plane. It is the same process. They believe they are coming to Australia but they end up somewhere else. It is a virtual turnaround of boats. If the opposition had listened to the facts—

Mr Tony Smith interjecting—

See this speech in context