Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to her media release of 23 April 2003 entitled 'Another boat on the way. Another policy failure'. Will the Prime Minister now admit that with over 700 boats entering Australia illegally that represents over 700 failures on Labor's watch?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This question has been asked in a number of forms before, and I think you can tell it is the night after the Press Gallery ball. To the member who asked the question, what I say to him is we are a government that sought expert advice from an independent panel—the former Chief of the Defence Force, a foreign policy expert and a refugee expert—and we brought proposals to the parliament and the member who asked the question voted for more boats.