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

When we do talk to Indonesia we have the guts and the truthfulness to talk about government policies. When the Leader of the Opposition did that he had been round the country beating his chest. He campaigned in 2010. 'Stop the boats,' he said wherever he went, 'I believe in turning boats around.' When he sat in a room with the President of Indonesia, what did he do? Not one word about turning boats around passed his lips. He lacked the guts because he knew that the President of Indonesia would just have said no and therefore he knew in that moment that this silly game of 'stop the boats' would have been over. Instead of having the guts to actually put his position, to listen to what the President of Indonesia had to say, he basically sat silent . Well, the people of Australia should judge that. If he does not have the guts as the Leader of the Opposition to say this to the President of Indonesia then, if ever he is Prime Minister, he never will. 'Stop the boats' is a slogan, nothing more, nothing less. (Time expired)

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