Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to follow the member for La Trobe's extraordinary contribution to this debate on the Migration Amendment (Reinstatement of Temporary Protection Visas) Bill 2013. I think perhaps the member for La Trobe has spent too long in Canberra. If she went outside to her electorate and asked them, 'What is one of the top concerns you have in relation to federal politics at the moment?' then she would hear from the people that they are most concerned about the complete mismanagement of the borders of our country.

It is a fact that in the last six years of the Howard government, just 272 people arrived illegally on 16 boats. Since 2007 we know that under Labor's watch 32,600 people have arrived illegally on more than 555 boats. It is appalling that government members lecture us on humanity. How is it more humane under the Labor Party's system that more people, who arrive illegally, take the positions of people and places in the refugee and humanitarian program reserved for offshore applicants?. That is what has happened under this government.

That is why this bill is before us today. The coalition is going to reserve a minimum of 11,000 places in the 13,750 places under the refugee and humanitarian program for offshore applicants. The real story, the story that Labor will not tell you, the story that in their lamenting about humanity they will not get down to is: what about the mental health of people waiting in those refugee camps whose applications have been reversed because they have not got a place? The trend under Labor where the number of places available for offshore refugee and humanitarian entrants fell to 6,718 places in 2011-12. That is the first point I would make.

Mismanagement has serious consequences. The member for La Trobe and all of the Labor members who have participated in this debate ought to reflect on this. They abolished the Pacific solution and replaced it with a system that has caused this problem. That is what the government did when they came to office. The then minister, Chris Evans, said it was one of his proudest moments in parliament, yet all we have seen in the five years since is complete mismanagement, the dismantling of the regime that was able to effectively ensure people did not get on those boats, that people smugglers did not have a product to sell to those people looking to get on the boats. All we have seen since is a rush to get back to the Howard government era.

The member for La Trobe, who laments at how we should reflect on this hideous evil of TPVs, ought to reflect that she has adopted about 95 per cent of a policy from the Howard government—there is five per cent missing. What is that five per cent? That five per cent is temporary protection visas, a critical component—not the solution by itself as Labor members have disingenuously suggested. We are not saying that this is the entire answer but it is yet another component and a plank of a system that worked.

Why do temporary protection visas work? Because under our proposal, the refugee status of a temporary protection visa holder will be reassessed on the expiration of the visa. It is a humane system. You get a three-year temporary protection visa and then, if circumstances allow for your return to a country, that is a reasonable basis for people to make a decision, denying people smugglers the trade in which they so evilly conduct themselves. That is why it is a sensible suggestion. That is why we have put it up two or three times in this place, because we know it is part of a system that can stop these boats from coming, stop these illegal arrivals, stop these people taking the places of legitimate offshore arrival applicants.

If you were concerned about the humanity of the situation, that ought to be one of your primary concerns. I do not hear Labor members saying, like the coalition has guaranteed, that a minimum of 11,000 places out of the 13,750 will be reserved for offshore applicants. I have not heard that. Where is the humanity in that? In fact, all we have heard about is their focus on this five per cent of the policy. They are holding out on the very big hope that this is the end of the Howard era.

When the Labor Party picked up the Howard government era policies in a rush to fix the problems they had created and put them into a xerox machine, they missed the final page, which was temporary protection visas. You re-adopted 95 per cent of the Howard government era policies—that is the reality—but you missed a page. The page was temporary protection visas, a component of a system that worked, a reasonable and humane system that treated people with rights and allowed for them to be returned if it was acceptable. It denied people smugglers the product that has caused this whole problem. The member for La Trobe should reflect that it is not in her policy now but it probably will be in a few months.

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