Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

We saw from the Prime Minister in the parliament earlier today anger, frustration, vituperation and thwarted pride. I respectfully suggest to the Prime Minister that she should be directing her frustration towards her own failures and those of her government, not towards an opposition which has a proven record of success on border protection in this country.

This government closed down offshore processing in February 2008 and have not been able to restart offshore processing for the best part of 15 months. Now they say that the real enemies of offshore processing are the people who invented offshore processing and who have been in favour of it all along. The Prime Minister should not project her faults and her failings onto others. It is a serious psychological weakness in this Prime Minister.

Let the House take note of the facts. They are that the coalition under the leadership of the former Prime Minister, Mr Howard, found a border protection problem and created a solution to it. It was not easy—it took time and very unpopular decision-making—but we found a problem and we created a solution. This government, on the other hand, found a solution and created a problem. The current problem is all this government's own work. Let the record show that the problem we now have on our borders is all due to the fact that this government gave the people smugglers a business model. They did not have a business model for the best part of eight years, but this government gave it back to them. By doing so, this government caused the problem that this country now faces.

This coalition have been totally and absolutely consistent for a decade. There is a solution to the problem of border protection and the problem of people smugglers, and it involves three essential ingredients: offshore processing at Nauru; temporary protection visas; and keeping the option of turning boats around where that can safely be done. That solution, which the former government put in place, worked. From 2002 to 2007 there were fewer than three boats a year. Since that solution was unravelled by the current government there have been almost two boats a week.

The Prime Minister says that she has expert advice that the Malaysian people-swap is the only option that will work. But there have been 1,000 boat arrivals since it was announced and 400 illegal arrivals by boat since it was signed that say she is wrong. In contrast, the lack of arrivals under the coalition's policy show that the coalition is right.

We have seen a desperate and floundering government who are too proud and too stubborn to admit that the coalition has it right; they are too proud and too stubborn to admit that John Howard had it right. Ever since the beginning of 2009, the government have been desperately floundering around for some kind of policy of their own. Last year they brought in the processing freeze on people from certain countries. That was rightly described by my colleague the shadow minister as 'the most discriminatory immigration policy since White Australia'. Then they brought in the so-called East Timor solution, which they had not even discussed with the East Timor government. Then they announced the Manus solution, which they had not discussed with the right people in the PNG government. Finally, back in May we had the Malaysian people swap.

The government could have had offshore processing at any time in the last 12 or 15 months. They could have had it whenever they wanted. All they needed to do was to pick up the phone to the President of Nauru and it did not happen because of the pride and the stubbornness of this Prime Minister and the pride and the stubbornness of a government which did not have the magnanimity to leave well enough alone. That is the truth.

Let us go through the Prime Minister's own inconsistencies on this whole question of border protection. On every single element of policy, whether it be turning boats around, temporary protection visas or offshore processing, this is a Prime Minister who has had every position and no position. In 2002 she said it was right to turn boats around. Then in 2010 she said it was disgraceful to turn boats around. Now she says it is all right to turn boats around as long as it is a virtual turnaround through Malaysia. Back in 2002 she said that temporary protection visas were a good thing. Now she says that temporary protection visas are an almost diabolical thing. The Prime Minister said repeatedly that offshore processing, the Pacific solution, was 'costly, unsustainable and wrong in principle'. Now she had not only done a 180-degree turn but she is also accusing the people who have a patent on offshore processing—the inventors of offshore processing—of somehow being against something that we have always been for and have always been prepared to facilitate.

Then, of course, we have the Prime Minister's attitude towards countries that have or have not signed the United Nations refugee convention. Oh, yes, this is what is gnawing at the consciences of members opposite. This is what is eating at what is left of the consciences of members opposite. The Prime Minister said, 'I would rule out any countries that are not signatories to the UN convention'—a commitment now as notorious as her commitment that there will be no carbon tax under a government she leads, and just as much betrayed.

Let us not just focus on the Prime Minister. I remind the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, who is at the table, what he said not very long ago at all—hardly a year ago:

Now, from our point of view, we’ve said … that the regional processing centre would need to be, for the sake of decency, at a country which is a signatory to the Refugee Convention.

This is a very important statement. I want to repeat this.

An opposition member: He should resign!

I can understand why he wants to resign. Let me repeat his statement:

… from our point of view, we’ve said … that the regional processing centre would need to be, for the sake of decency, at a country which is a signatory to the Refugee Convention.

No wonder this is a government which is dying of shame. No wonder members opposite, left-wing members of the caucus, left question time today rather than listen to the stuff they were getting from the Prime Minister. I say to the minister at the table: how do you justify now doing that which you said, for the sake of decency, you would not do?

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