Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. The government does have a bill before the parliament now. It is absolutely essential that it be supported. It is regrettable that the Leader of the Opposition has indicated that Labor, in their latest demonstration of weakness on border protection, have said that they will not support this bill. The only reason the Leader of the Opposition has offered up is that somehow, in 40 years time—in his own words—somebody could apply for a tourist visa from a third country somewhere else. That is denying the reality that we face today. The bill is introduced now because of threats that we face now from people smugglers. The fact is that 14,000 people are on boats in Indonesia ready to come to our country now. This is not some hypothetical about what happens in 40 years time. Somehow the Leader of the Opposition is worried about whether someone, in four decades, can travel on a visa to come to our country.

Dr Aly interjecting

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