Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Member for Cowper for his question. He speaks about migration during the period in which we have been in office. I suggest he should join those who stand up in the coalition party room and question the leadership of this bloke because the Leader of the Opposition had this to say in 2022: 'We do need an increase in the migration numbers. It is clear the number needs to be higher.' He went on to say later in the year, just in case you think that was a one-off: 'In addition to a domestic workforce, of course, we need migration.' In his first budget reply the Leader of the Opposition boasted, 'I brought in record numbers of people.' That is what he had to say in his first budget reply.

What we have done is cut the numbers in half. That is just a fact. We know that Dr Martin Parkinson, who served under those opposite as the head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, had this to say after his review: 'This is a 10-year rebuild. This is not something you do quickly because it is so badly broken. It was a deliberate decision to neglect the system.' Christine Nixon, who did an examination as well, said, 'I was surprised at the breath, the various areas where visas were used to exploit people or for people to exploit the system.' Of course, Dennis Richardson said lack of proper due diligence resulted in public money being handed to individuals and businesses suspected of seeking to circumvent US sanctions against Iran—money laundering, bribery, drugs and arms smuggling into Australia, and corruption.

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