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

From the mouth of the Leader of the Opposition we hear John Howard's rallying cry—'We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come'—and changed it into a cruel joke. The Leader of the Opposition knows that the amendments that the government has brought to the parliament would enable the government to implement its preferred way of processing and dealing with asylum seekers and it would enable the opposition to do so as well if it were ever elected to government. It was put forward in good faith. It was put forward as common ground. It was put forward to restore to the executive the rights that it should have to make policy decisions about refugees and asylum seekers. I take it from the Leader of the Opposition that, contrary to Prime Minister Howard and contrary to the former minister for immigration, Philip Ruddock, he now believes that deciding asylum seeker policy in this country should not be in the hands of the executive government; it should be in the hands of the High Court.

I say to the Leader of the Opposition: I believe executive government should stump up and make these choices. They are difficult—they are not easy—but we stand here ready to implement a responsible plan which we have been given the strongest possible advice will create the maximum deterrence for people travelling to this country in leaky boats where they could lose their lives. Nothing, no amount of spin from the Leader of the Opposition, no amount of slogans, no amount of carry-on procedurally in this parliament and no amount of filibustering will ever change the basic fact here. The basic fact here is that, if you are to have strong border security, you must empower government to act. We seek that government have that power; the Leader of the Opposition seeks to deny that power to government because he is hoping in his heart of hearts that we see a lot more boats.

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