Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Again, I do thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for her question. The fact is that we are talking to Indonesia about a whole range of measures. We are cooperating closely with the Indonesian government at every level to stop the boats. That cooperation is close and getting closer all the time. What we are specifically talking about is how we can best handle the question of people who are picked up by Australia in the Indonesian search-and-rescue zone. I know members opposite like to identify failure very quickly here, but let me just reassure members opposite that while the boats have not yet stopped they certainly are stopping. In the first two months of the new government, illegal arrivals were down 75 per cent on the last two months of the former government, and in October illegal arrivals by boat were down 90 per cent on the peak month of the former government.

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