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

Minister, it is well known that under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor-Green government more than 800 boats arrived carrying more than 50,000 people. It is also widely known that the complete loss of control of our borders cost the Commonwealth around $12 billion. I believe it is also fairly well understood that more than 1,200 lives were lost at sea in the scramble to reach Australia and that Labor built more immigration detention beds than they did hospital beds during their time in government. The big-picture stuff and the headline numbers are known because, when under the Labor government, every time you thought that things could not get any worse, things did get worse, and they did so very quickly. Every time things lurched from tragedy to farce, it was all over the news.

What might not be as widely understood is the effect that this chaos had on various communities, including my own in Solomon. By the time the negligent Labor days were drawing to a close, there were five immigration detention facilities either in Solomon or just outside. Chartered jets streamed in and out of Darwin airport on a daily basis, each flight costing the taxpayer tens of thousands of dollars as detainees were shuffled from centre to centre in a desperate juggling act. New centres were commissioned and built in the area around Darwin. They filled up instantly and more centres were built at enormous cost to the Commonwealth. The immigration industry in Solomon was a monster which crushed other businesses. The tourism sector was swept aside as the government booked up all the available accommodation. An entire motel in Darwin's central business district was leased by the Department of Immigration as a place of detention. Several others were leased in whole or part to immigration contractors and to departmental staff. This drove the cost of rooms up for tourists and meant fewer people were visiting my electorate for holidays.

For businesses in the restaurant industry, there were fewer diners at their tables. Tour operators also found fewer people taking up their tours. As I said, accommodation cost was a big driver keeping people away. The fishing charter operators had fewer people on their decks, and some longstanding and well-established businesses went to the wall.

Minister, it has not gone without notice in my electorate that 800 boats arrived under Labor's tenure and, to this day, 648 days into the coalition government's tenure, only one boat has arrived—one compared to 800. Things are improving in Solomon. The hotel industry is once again serving tourists. Some of the detention facilities around Darwin have been closed, and it has been reported that $16 million in lease costs alone were saved when Blaydin Point was closed.

So my question to you, Minister, is: how has Operation Sovereign Borders helped the government achieve savings of $558 million in the budget, through management of the immigration detention network?

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