Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the new interest from those opposite in community safety, because they were found wanting when they were in government. In contrast, think about what we are doing on this side of the House compared to what they did when they were in government. On this side of the House, we are cleaning up the mess in the immigration system that we were left with by those opposite. Under the Leader of the Opposition's watch, nearly 1,300 serious criminals were released. What's worse is that he oversaw an immigration system that was described by Christine Nixon, who conducted a review into the system, as having an 'almost industrial-scale' exploitation of vulnerable temporary migrants.

I want to tell everyone in this House just how bad it got. Those opposite cut the number of immigration compliance staff, which resulted in known sex traffickers entering our country. These are people who had committed serious crimes overseas and were jailed for that. We knew about it, and they were allowed into this country. One of them, Binjun Xie, lived in my electorate. He was convicted and jailed in the UK for sex trafficking and, despite his very serious criminal record, he was allowed into this country to run another illegal sex ring, exploiting vulnerable women. So I welcome the interest from those opposite in protecting women, but where were they when they allowed Binjun Xie into this country? He arrived in 2014 with a student visa, and who was immigration minister then? Depending on when he came during that year, it was either the former Prime Minister or the current Leader of the Opposition, two members of parliament who love to cultivate a tough-guy image—tough cop on the beat. Well, they've been exposed as the chihuahuas of the Australian parliament: all bark, no bite. I want to remind you of what the former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, said when she conducted the review into this immigration system. She said that there were 'grotesque abuses' of temporary migrant workers.

So Binjun Xie was allowed to operate his illegal sex ring for years and years. What finally stopped it? When we came into government, we had the home affairs minister and the immigration minister finally stop the criminal activity that was taking place in this country, and we deported him. He is just one of several crime syndicate figures who exploited a migration system that was riddled with holes. The UK detective who investigated and helped to jail Binjun Xie said he was shocked Australia allowed him to enter this country. This is what he said:

I'm flabbergasted that he's able to get into Australia, bearing in mind that he was jailed here—

in the UK—

for five years with a condition that he was deported back to China upon his release.

Instead of staying in China, he was allowed into this country.

Let's remember what those opposite did when they were responsible for the government departments that were processing visas: they absolutely gutted those departments. Between 2015 and 2022, as onshore protection claims went through the roof, the number of visa processing staff shrank by a third. During their nine years in power, the immigration compliance team was halved. That resulted in gaping holes in the migration system.

Thankfully, we now have a Minister for Home Affairs and an immigration minister who are cleaning up the mess that those opposite left behind—filling those holes; closing those gaps. We have established a permanent strike force which will address problems as we find them, instead of ignoring them. We've doubled the department's resources. Instead of cutting staff, we've increased staff so that they can do those compliance checks. And we are imposing penalties on migration agents who are involved in misconduct. We are providing record investment to keep our borders safe. As the Australian Border Force Commissioner has said, Border Force funding is currently the highest it has been since its establishment.

So the contrast between two approaches, when it comes to migration, could not be more stark. They had gaping holes in their migration system and ignored them. We are reforming the system and putting Australia's national interest at the heart of it.

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