Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for that question, because we have fully accounted in the budget for all of the actual arrivals up to budget. We have also, in the budget, published the methodology for calculating the forecasts in the budget. We do these forecasts by taking advice from security agencies, impacts of future policies and the history of the issue. In the shorter term we take advice on intelligence and expected outcomes of government policy interventions and, of course, in the longer term we move to longer term averages.

I want to make this point: the government have been blocked every step of the way by those opposite when we have sought to put in place the full suite of policies that is required to stop the people smugglers. Those over there are the best friends people smugglers ever had because they have actively blocked the attempts that we have put in place!

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