Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was just gathering my thoughts as I was listening to the member for Wakefield. I understand he is very emotional and he is upset because his party trashed the Howard government policies that worked, and that has had a significant impact on him because the Labor brand is trashed and it is going to impact on him in his seat come September.

This matter of public importance focuses on national security and the budget. We have heard members on both sides talk about the impacts on the budget and national security. I would like to take a bit of a different stance: I will talk about the budget implications, but I will also talk about my electorate that I proudly represent. I spoke on this issue a couple of weeks ago, and the boats just still keep coming. I guess that is why I thought it was really important that I speak again on this very important issue.

Managing Australia's borders is about balancing the need of those who flee their homes and embark on an often dangerous journey to travel here with the needs of the Australian community, and the detriment that this budget overkill has had on the Australian economy. I have said many times in this place that it is of great concern to me that people smugglers exploit the vulnerable, and I remind the House that the Gillard Labor government is implicit in this because it removed the border protection policies of the former Howard government that were proven to work. The Gillard Labor government has had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to fix the border protection chaos that this has created, but it has done nothing except continue to give the people smugglers a product to sell.

The Gillard Labor government's policies have left our hardworking border protection, Customs and Defence personnel overworked and understaffed. And we now know that ASIO personnel are also under pressure because there is a backlog of security checks that need to occur because of the spike in arrivals. Earlier today I asked the Prime Minister in question time:

I remind the Prime Minister of the admission yesterday from immigration officials that 63 asylum seekers have escaped from immigration detention in the last year and 25 are still on the run.

And I asked the Prime Minister could she:

… guarantee that all these people had undergone comprehensive ASIO security checks prior to the escape into the community

Well there is probably no surprise here, but there was no direct answer from the Prime Minister—the one who is responsible for laying out the carpet for the people smugglers, giving them a product to sell. But do you know what? The Australian people want answers, and they want this problem that Labor created fixed. They are sick of it.

We now know from Senate estimates that around 25,000 people are expected to arrive here on boats. The member for Wakefield said in his contribution that he wants the boats to stop; he does not want the boats here. We on this side also do not want—we want the boats to stop; we do not want people coming here illegally. As I said, we now expect 25,000 people to arrive here on boats this financial year, and we know already that there have been 148 boats carrying more than 10,000 people this year courtesy of the people smugglers and the Gillard Labor government.

People from my electorate ask me what is the cost, and that is a very good question—one that I think many Australians will be interested to know. The Gillard Labor government's failed border protection policies have cost taxpayers $10 billion, with $5 billion of that $10 billion being spent this year alone. I can only dream of what $10 billion could do in my electorate and my colleagues' electorates. It would just be amazing. Imagine having money to spend on improvements in health, education, community safety, housing and child care. I could do a lot with $10 billion, what about you guys?

Opposition members: Very much so, yes.

But instead this money is being spent on a policy that is clearly not working.

Last time I spoke on this issue a couple of weeks ago, I outlined the boats that are targeting the Top End waters. There have been some new arrivals. I think it is only appropriate to give the facts because we like to deal with facts in this place. About 30 minutes after my last speech, there was another boat that arrived in Top End waters. So I will just go through the list again.

On 1 January this year, HMAS Armidale intercepted a boat west of Darwin carrying 43 people. On 28 February, HMAS Launceston intercepted a boat north-west of Darwin carrying 33 people. On 20 March, HMAS Pirie intercepted a boat west-north-west of Darwin carrying 78 people. On 24 March, HMAS Pirie intercepted a boat north-west of Darwin carrying 41 people. On 27 March, HMAS Pirie again intercepted a boat, south-west of Darwin, carrying 147 people. On 3 April, HMAS Bundaberg intercepted a boat north-west of Darwin carrying 41 people. On 9 April, HMAS Ararat intercepted a boat north-west of Darwin carrying 73 people. On 17 April, HMAS Childers intercepted a boat west-south-west of Darwin carrying 78 people. On 21 April, HMAS Maryborough intercepted a boat north-west of Darwin carrying 67 people. On 23 April, ACV Ocean Protector intercepted a boat north-north-east of Darwin carrying 65 people. On 26 April, HMAS Maitland intercepted a boat west-north-west of Darwin carrying 75 people. On 3 May, HMAS Albany intercepted a boat west-north-west of Darwin carrying 160 people. On 4 May, ACV Botany Bay and MV OMS Endurance intercepted a boat north-west of Darwin carrying 105 people. On 13 May, HMAS Glenelg intercepted a boat at Cobourg Peninsula carrying 11 people. On 14 May, ACV Triton intercepted a boat west of Darwin carrying 42 people. And, on 17 May, HMAS Armidale intercepted a boat north-west of Darwin carrying 80 people. That is 16 boats targeting Darwin carrying almost 1,200 people.

On top of these boats, we have another 310 people being transferred to Darwin for processing since 14 May. On 14 May we had 49 people transferred. On 16 May we had two people transferred. On 19 May we had 76 people transferred. On 22 May, 85 people were transferred. On 23 May, 98 people were transferred.

Is it any wonder that Territorians are asking me questions about the cost of the Gillard Labor government's failed border protection policies? It is also the additional pressure that is put on my electorate with the service providers. It is already hard enough to get service providers in the Northern Territory, but having extra people has put pressure on my electorate. We all know very well that every dollar spent on border protection policies is money not being spent on or in our communities. The people of Darwin and Palmerston, in my electorate, are telling me that they are tired of the Gillard Labor government's failed border protection policy. They want it fixed and they want it fixed now.

Let me finish by saying that there is an alternative for the Australian people. We have a choice, and that choice is to vote for the coalition come 14 September because the coalition has a plan, an alternative, to mitigate the disastrous impact that the Gillard Labor government has had on border protection policy. We have stopped the boats before and we will stop them again. The coalition will restore what the Labor Party abandoned, and that was a strong border protection regime developed by the coalition as a priority to protect our nation's borders. The coalition will reintroduce offshore processing of illegal boat arrivals as part of a series of measures to stop the boats and protect our borders. We will prevent this problem by minimising the numbers coming from both initial countries of origin and first asylum countries. We will disrupt the business of people smuggling and intercept the boats when safe to do. (Time expired)

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