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

I was directly asked about the opposition's policy and whether or not I would endorse it. I was directly asked about that, and I am being directly relevant. If the opposition do not want me to talk about their policy, they should not ask me about it. Let us go down the convoluted road. When they are in government they process in Nauru; it is not a signatory to the refugee convention. They go to the 2010 election saying, in the words of the shadow minister, 'No, it's not a precondition that Nauru is a signatory to the refugee convention.' That is the policy the opposition took to the Australian people. Then they backflipped in this parliament because their political interest was in seeing more boats. They wanted to stymie legislation going through this parliament after the High Court case. Now they appear to have backflipped again with a policy that has all the risks the Chief of Navy has pointed to for ADF personnel. All this convolution points to putting political interest above the national interest. The opposition want to see more boats.

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