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

The Leader of the Opposition comes into this place day after day and the one constant thing is that he denies that facts are facts. He asked for a briefing from the government's advisers—the same people who advised the Howard government—and, when he received that briefing, he was told by those advisers that in their professional and considered opinion Nauru will not work. That is because people smugglers, having seen the example of Nauru once—and, of course, when it was first instituted it had shock value, and many people believed that people who went to Nauru did not have the chance of coming to Australia or going to a place like New Zealand—know for certain that the way in which Nauru worked was that people were processed there and resettled here and in New Zealand. Consequently, they are able to say to the people on whom they try to prey, 'If you are processed in Nauru, you will eventually get to Australia.' That is the message that has been sent up the people-smuggling pipeline.

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