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

This is why standing orders must be suspended. This government's incompetence on border protection is not just about boats, it is about guns as well. This is the most important business that the parliament could possibly discuss right now.

We know, from a press conference in Sydney today, that 140 Glock firearm magazines have been imported into this country. They are all imported. Every single illegal handgun in this country has been imported. There are far more—and this is why standing orders must be suspended—because of this government's cuts to border screening. There are, according to the New South Wales police, 160 to 220 illegal firearms in this country because border protection screening was unable to stop this particular operation from bringing illegal handguns into our country, and this is why standing orders must be suspended. Those 160 to 220 guns are enough to fight a street battle. They are enough to sustain a gangland war. They are enough to terrorise our streets. It is happening because of this government's incompetence in maintaining proper border protection: not just border protection against illegal boats, but border protection against illegal guns. This is why standing orders must be suspended. This is why this motion should take priority.

There have been 88 drive-by shootings in Sydney over the last 12 months. There is a reign of terror on the streets of Sydney and as those shots ring out, the people of Sydney think of the crime gangs. They think of the police trying to protect them from those crime gangs. And now they should also think of this Prime Minister, whose incompetence and failures on border protection have materially contributed to this particular social disaster. Is there no end to this government's, and this Prime Minister's, incompetence? We have the pink batts disaster, the school halls disaster, the live cattle export disaster and now we have gun crime in Sydney aided and abetted by the incompetence of this government in maintaining a proper border protection regime. It is not just an inadequate regime against illegal boats but a totally inadequate regime against illegal guns as well.

Today, the head of Customs, Mr Michael Carmody, said, 'It is absolutely impossible for every one of those air containers and cargo containers to be searched.' That is what he said and, I tell you what, it is so much harder as a result of the cuts to screening by this government. A 75 per cent cut to air cargo screening and a 25 per cent cut to sea cargo screening just makes their job so much harder. That is a result of the incompetence of this government. Their incompetence in stopping the boats flows directly into their incompetence in stopping the guns. They cannot stop the boats, and now we know, because of what has happened in New South Wales today, they cannot stop the guns either. That means that the safety of the people of Sydney has been put at risk.

But there is some good news, and this is why standing orders should be suspended. Mike Carmody said today that, 'It's important for those out there to understand that you have agencies at both a Commonwealth and a state level who now work together to address issues.' At least Mike Carmody understands that; I wish Fair Work Australia understood that. Mike Carmody understands that; I wish Minister Shorten understood that. That is why standing orders should be suspended. The only federal agency that does not believe in cooperating with other law enforcement agencies to investigate and prevent crime is Fair Work Australia.

We have a very serious situation on the streets of Sydney. Gun crime—in particular, drive-by shootings—are becoming rampant. Many parts of Western Sydney have been terrorised by drive-by shootings. There is almost nothing that could be more contrived to damage people's enjoyment of their neighbourhoods than drive-by shootings. Every single one of these drive-by shootings has involved an illegally imported gun. Every single one of those illegally imported guns has got past Customs, and they are getting past Customs because this government has savagely cut Customs funding because it cannot stop the boats.

This is an utterly incompetent and utterly untrustworthy government. It is a government which frankly should have died of shame and should be gone. (Time expired)

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