Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker has received a letter from the honourable member for Cook proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The failure of the Government to keep their promise to maintain a strong border protection regime.

I call upon those members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this year in this place, the Prime Minister, on another matter, said the test of an issue was how one answers three questions: firstly, is there a problem; secondly, are you going to do something about that problem; and, thirdly, are you committed and is your heart in the solution? On the issue of whether there is a problem when it comes to the failure of the Rudd government’s border protection regime, more than 4,100 people arriving illegally on 92 boats on this government’s watch cannot be wrong. This is the damning judgment of the Rudd government’s failure to live up to their pre-election commitments.

Under the Rudd government, we have gone from three illegal boat arrivals per year—three per year in the last six years of the coalition government after we took action—to more than two per week under this government this year. More people arrived illegally by boat last month, in February, than in the last six years of the coalition government—something the PM failed to mention in question time today when comparing records. In 2010, we have had 24 boats and almost 1,200 people arrive so far, and it is only March. Boats are arriving at a rate of 10 per month and people at a rate of almost 500 per month. This is the highest on record, higher than the peak of the coalition years. What this shows is that, under the Rudd government, we have gone from a period under the coalition government of less than one boat per month to 10 boats per month, which is higher than the average for each of 1999, 2000 and 2001. It tells a story of a failure of a government to honour the pledges it made before the election.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member has used his prop sufficiently.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For every 400 people who are arriving on Christmas Island these days, only about a hundred are going off. There are now about 1,900 people on Christmas Island in a facility that was built for just 400 people. In July 2008, there were six people on Christmas Island—just six—and today there are 1,900.

The costs of running this program under this government, as the floodgates have opened, are going through the roof. I refer to the government’s estimate at the beginning of the budget for this current year. With all the international push factors which were apparently going on and putting pressure on arrivals, their conclusion was that 200 people would arrive. By November, they realised they were probably a bit out and they thought, ‘Well, we think that 1,400 people are going to arrive this year.’ When they disclosed that at Senate estimates, 2,600 people had already arrived illegally by boat. They asked for an extra $132 million to deal with this increase in arrivals of 1,400 people. However, in just making up the shortfall to now, there are around 3,100 people who have arrived this year and the projection for the full financial year, based on the average, means they will have to add another $250 million to that total this year alone. When you take that out over the three forward years of estimates and you add it to this year, it means that the cost of this government’s failed border protection policy on the budget and over the forward estimates is $1 billion.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The cost is $1 billion and every boat that turns up on your watch is costing $3.6 million. They are your own costings from estimates, and now you want to interrupt the truth like you always—

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: the shadow minister should speak through you and not talk directly to me.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cook should be aware that he needs to address his remarks through the chair.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am aware that the government is extremely precious about this issue and this minister is extremely precious about this issue. This is the minister who issues press releases about boat arrivals after he has held a press conference. That is what he does and then he issues press releases 10 hours after boats have arrived. He does not tell us where the boats have come from. He does not provide any transparency. He releases press releases after he has held press conferences. This is a minister who is very precious.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will desist heckling across the table.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From their own costings provided at estimates, it is costing $81,000 per additional arrival, based on their additional ask for money. My colleague the shadow minister for border protection will inform the House, I am sure, that it is a further $25,000 in additional Customs and Border Protection costs. So every boat that turns up, with an average size of around 40 people, is costing this country $3.6 million.

The Rudd government likes to blame push factors, yet it conveniently ignores the evidence from the UK Home Office, released just a few weeks ago. Based on tracking a full year’s data of asylum seeker applications across 32 industrialised Western countries around the world in 2009, it showed that together there had been an increase in applications of half a per cent. What was the Australian result for that year? It was 31 per cent in one year. The UK was down six per cent for the full 12 months. Declines were also recorded for Canada and the United States. In the final quarter of last year, the UK was down 30 per cent. There were also the recent comments from the UNHCR. The UNHCR has said that the situations in both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have been improving in recent times. So, while the situation globally is improving, boat arrivals and illegal arrivals in Australia are going through the roof at a rate of 10 per month—the highest on record.

The Prime Minister says it was worse under John Howard but, as I said before, the rate of arrivals today is higher per month than at any other time. Global asylum applications around the world today are 40 per cent lower than they were in 1999, 2000 and 2001. So when the Howard government was dealing with a surge of arrivals, asylum applications were 40 per cent higher. They are 40 per cent lower now, and boat arrivals are higher.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They are faster; they are quicker. This government want to blame international push factors rather than face up to their own responsibility. The difference—if you listen to the government argument for a second—is that, even when we did experience a surge in arrivals over the period of 1999, 2000 and 2001, we did something about it. We took direct action, and in one year the number of boats went from over 40 to one. In that same year, in 2002, the number of global asylum applications was roughly, on average, the same as in the year before.

This government want to pretend that they are dealing with an international situation without precedent—maybe it is a rolling national security crisis. Maybe they are going to use those sorts of terms to explain what is going on. But the truth is that they dealing with a problem which the coalition dealt with—but we solved it. As the coalition government we introduced policies which brought the boats to zero. This government are in a position of failing to act and failing to get results. They are in a position where they are in complete denial.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will have his turn later.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Rudd government are in border protection denial.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Brendan O’Connor interjecting

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister is pushing his limits. The member for Cook has the call.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would even go as far as to say that the minister at the table in particular but the Rudd government more broadly are border protection sceptics. Maybe they need to get to a meeting. Maybe the Prime Minister needs to turn up to one of those meetings and say, ‘My name is Kevin and I’ve got a border protection problem,’ because he is in denial.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Cook will use people’s appropriate titles, or he will be pushing the limits too.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Prime Minister should attend one of those meetings and say, ‘My name is Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister of Australia, and I’ve got a border protection problem.’ But we will not hear that from him, because he does not think he has a problem.

So what are the government going to do about it? They cannot spin the boats away. I know that this is the government’s preferred option for dealing with everything: ‘We’ll just spin it and maybe it will go away’. But we know that does not work. You have to take actual action to stop the boats. Then they say, ‘No, it is all about international forces’, as we have discussed. Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister, is looking for an international solution; he is looking for a regional solution; he is looking for an Indonesian solution. But the one solution he will not offer is an Australian solution. He will not address an Australian solution that deals with domestic pull factors—the reason these boats are coming.

This is a government that inherited a solution, as the Leader of the Opposition often says, and decided to create a problem. The Prime Minister said he would turn the boats back. They were his words, not ours. We did not force him to say it. We did not challenge him to say it. He went out there and said it to big-note himself before the election. Implied in that promise was more than just turning boats back. He was trying to say: ‘Look, I’ll just be like the previous government. I’ll be like the government before.’ Just like the fiscal conservative promise, he said he would keep it going. We know that was a hollow promise. His heart was never in it. He never had any intention of following through and, as we learnt with the SIEV 36 explosion inquiry, he changed his mind and he changed his policy. He just did not tell anyone about it and he hoped everyone would just miss it on the way through.

This is a government that have abolished TPVs, have abolished the Pacific solution, have reversed their commitment to turn boats back, have abolished detention debt, have rolled back mandatory detention and have abolished the 45-day rule. They thought they could fiddle the thermostat on border protection and no-one would notice. The truth is that people smugglers have noticed the change in temperature under this government. They noticed straightaway, and 92 boats later the verdict is in—that is, the government’s policies have failed. Labor’s answer is to blame others and wind back the regime they inherited that was working, and now their answer is to bring people onshore and thereby dismantle the universal policy of offshore processing that was so successful under the Howard government. That policy will also go to the sword under this government, and what we will see as a result of that is a further escalation. Last summer we had four boats, and this year, in the quiet period, the monsoon period—not even the forces of nature can stop this government’s failures in border protection—we got to around 30 boats over summer. It has gone completely over the top.

Then there was the issue of the Oceanic Viking. Not only have their policies failed, but their inability to show resolve when the pressure is on has failed as well. The Prime Minister, it was revealed in Senate estimates—and he said it at this dispatch box—did not know the contents of the special deal with the Indonesian government regarding the passengers on the Oceanic Viking. That was proved under evidence in Senate estimates. This a Prime Minister who did not know, and did not want to know, and was basically hiding under his desk, trying to avoid eye contact with his national security adviser and his ministers so he could put political deniability ahead of the national interest—so he could put his own interest in being able to say, ‘I knew nothing about it,’ ahead of his obligations to protect this nation. He signed this country up to 76 people he knew nothing about without even knowing the terms of the agreement. He sold us out. That message has gone to the people smugglers and 40 more boats have arrived since then.

This is a government whose heart is just not in border protection. They try to be one thing, fail to be another and end up being nothing—and the Australian public know about it. Even their own supporters on the left would prefer them to just be honest—I assume, like the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Evans—and bring people onshore. They think, ‘Let’s just close Christmas Island and bring people onshore.’ At least that would be an honest position from this government rather than this facade of pretence, of bravado, that does not result in any action. You can compare the actions of this government with those of John Howard, the former Prime Minister, who understood direct action. He understood, as did the member for Berowra, over those many years in government, the language that people smugglers understand—that is, ‘You are not getting here. We will undermine your product. We will destroy your product and we will stop the boats.’

Why do we want to stop the boats? The government will want to self-assess their moral virtue and cast judgment on all of those who believe in strong border protection from some high horse, but the truth is this: we want to stop the boats because people die on boats and we want to stop the boats because the minister at the table knows that every single person out of the 13½ thousand who come through illegal boat arrivals takes the place of the families of those and others who are sitting in refugee camps. That is our compassion. That is our record. That is our policy. We stop the boats. You fail to stop the boats. You are not even going to start stopping the boats. You should wake up to yourselves.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I firstly indicate that I listened closely to what the shadow minister had to say in relation to what is a very important area of public policy. I listened closely to what he had say on a whole range of things. He ranted on about everything under the sun, except he did not mention one particular thing, and that was a policy. He did not actually mention a policy for the entire 15 minutes, and that is because the opposition do not have a policy on border protection. What we are waiting for, of course, are answers to questions as to whether they are going to re-introduce temporary protection visas and whether they are going to re-introduce installing razor wire and putting children behind razor wire. What we are looking to do is to have the opposition clarify and outline their policy prescriptions for what is a very complex area.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Ruddock interjecting

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The former minister for immigration, who is interjecting currently because he is very defensive when it comes to his record in relation to this matter, in 1999 quite rightly—

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Morrison interjecting

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You can just calm down, acolyte. Quite rightly, the minister—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am just referring to the mentor.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would ask him to withdraw. If he wants to be precious, if he wants to throw these sorts of allegations around, he should control himself.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cook will resume his seat. There is nothing to withdraw. The minister has the call.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can I say in relation to the former minister that he was correct in 1999 when he said on 14 November—

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am always correct.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, you are a better man than I am if you are always correct, Philip.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I guess that says everything: we have someone over there who is infallible. The then minister in 1999 said:

It is timely to remember that the use of people smugglers … is a worldwide problem. Australia is not alone. We are also seeing large numbers of people seeking asylum in developed countries—people from the same groups as we are seeing in Australia. For example, Iraqi asylum-seekers are registered in 77 countries and last year there were over 34 000 applications for asylum lodged by Iraqis in 19 European countries.

Quite rightly, the minister at the time identified international factors as the primary reason that there was a high incidence of arrivals in our territories. He identified that matter and at the time the then opposition did not challenge that assertion because there was a bipartisan position in relation to the factors, the causes, that lead to high incidences of arrivals. Of course, unfortunately, that bipartisan—

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the House.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am loath to do so during an MPI, but standing orders do require the ringing of the bells until a quorum is present. (Quorum formed)

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Canning for providing me with a bigger audience so I could prosecute the argument that in 1999 the former minister for immigration was correct when he said it was international factors. But as soon as other international factors came into play—for example, the repatriation in Afghanistan soon after 2001 and the invasion of Iraq soon after that, which led to a significant decline in those seeking asylum—the then government chose to say it was domestic factors that determined the actual slowing of arrivals into this country. I would suggest that, primarily, international factors are the causes of people seeking asylum around the world, seeking to come to First World countries. Indeed, that is the case here and it was the case in 1999, in 2000 and in 2001. But before we get too carried away about praising the then former minister, it is important to note that under his watch the numbers of arrivals were extraordinarily high.

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Must have been the pull factors!

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Absolutely.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Berowra has had enough opportunities.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We saw a surge in the Fraser years and we saw a surge in the Howard years. Let us look at the surges in those years.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Do you understand cause and effect?

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Bradfield understands the standing orders.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Prime Minister Howard and the minister for immigration at the time really get the gold, silver and bronze medals for the years of the highest arrivals in our history. In 2001 there were 51 boats and 5,516 irregular arrivals here, far more than there were last year and indeed a much higher trend than we have seen this year.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If John was here he’d tell you we stopped the boats.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Berowra has said enough.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 1999 there were 86 vessels and 3,721 arrivals on our shores. The third highest arrivals in that period occurred in 2000, when there were 43 vessels and 2,939 arrivals. That is one doozy of a surge. That is the largest spike we have had in irregular arrivals in our history. The difference is we agreed with the former government back then and said it was because of international factors. The difference is the amateur mob opposite and the shadow minister now suggest that this is a result of domestic policy. This is the first time that has been asserted by an opposition in relation to a surge, and that is because—

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Because we’re right—that’s why.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

in the end, the opposition are about rank opportunism. They are about political expediency. They are about putting politics before policy. They are about demonising people who are desperate and seeking asylum from persecution. Quite happily they will demonise those people. Quite happily they will blur the lines between people smugglers and those people who seek asylum.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Morrison interjecting

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Cook will cease interjecting.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But that is the type of thing we have come to expect from the shadow minister and, indeed, the Leader of the Opposition. It is an unfortunate thing we have an opposition willing to tear up bipartisanship on these matters. That is why former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has criticised the opposition for their approach and that is why this government will continue to be very strong on border protection but at the same time properly assess those people who are genuine refugees. People expect that we will take our fair share, just like the United States, just like Canada, just like the United Kingdom. They are the things that should happen if you are a decent country, while dedicating resources to ensure your borders are properly protected.

We have dedicated more resources than ever before to protecting our borders. There are 18 vessels and 14 aircraft surveiling what are huge tracts of water. We are looking to successfully intercept these vessels, and we are doing so. We have had far fewer unalerted arrivals than the previous government had. There were 27 unalerted arrivals under the Howard government, far more than under this government. We will continue to properly assess these asylum seekers and to ensure and maintain the integrity of our immigration system and borders.

It was fantastic to have the President of Indonesia here in our chamber last week. It was very important to have him here. As you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, the President of Indonesia indicated in this chamber that there would be new laws in Indonesia criminalising people-smuggling activities. That is a very good thing. The Indonesians are looking to introduce those laws this year. That follows commitments by the Malaysian government to do exactly the same—that is, to criminalise people-smuggling activity.

We will make sure we continue to cooperate with our neighbours in order to protect our borders but also to protect our region. This is, in the end, a regional problem. It needs regional solutions. With the close cooperation between law enforcement agencies in our region since September 2008 we have had 117 arrests and 28 convictions on people-smuggling offences in this country, and indeed 89 are still being prosecuted. That is, again, a clear indication of how important the cooperation of law enforcement agencies is in these matters. It is a complex and difficult issue, but it is a challenge that the government will continue to confront and, ultimately, prevail on.

In relation to the other forms of cooperation that are occurring in Indonesia, we have seen the Indonesian National Police establish for the first time a people-smuggling task force of 145 officers. We appreciate their efforts. It is another example of the close cooperation between the Australian Federal Police and the INP. It is very good work that is being done. This is what we need to do.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You should do those things, but you can’t rely on them alone.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Berowra’s longevity in this House should mean he understands the standing orders.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We need to target the organised syndicates in the region that are seeking to exploit desperate people and to entice them onto, in many cases, unseaworthy vessels on perilous journeys. That is why our target will always be focusing on the criminal elements in this scurrilous trade.

In relation to the opposition’s stance, we are still awaiting their policy. We understand they have a different view. We understand they are willing to play politics with this sensitive matter. We understand all of that, but ultimately they will be judged on what policies they have. All they have done in this parliamentary term is agree to the changes that the government put forward in relation to this matter. Since then they have done nothing to precisely outline what they would do as an alternative government in dealing with this issue.

Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will.

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tony’s gunna do it.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Braddon is about to ‘gunna’.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we do know, though, is this: if we are to measure the border protection strengths of a government by arrivals, the Howard government was the weakest government in 30 years. If we are to measure border protection based on arrivals, the Howard government had the worst record of any government in 30 years. It is something that is very hard for the former minister and the shadow minister to swallow, but that is the reality.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You’re in fantasy land

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ultimately, the opposition, if they want to be a fair dinkum alternative government, have to consider whether they want to be fair on people seeking asylum and tough on people smugglers.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

John Howard was known for being soft on border protection—try and spin that one!

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Cook is warned.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They have not shown that capacity. They have not shown that inclination. They have not shown any ethical regard whatsoever for people who are in desperate situations. In the end, they will be judged in terms of their effectiveness in border protection and also in terms of their concern for people who are fleeing persecution in war torn areas around the world.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the business of the day be called on.

Question put.