Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. At the recent election, the people of Bass indicated their support for the coalition's plan to stop the boats by electing a Liberal member of parliament. Will the minister update the House on the government's progress?

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

Madam Speaker, I commence by commending you on your elevation to the speakership and also commend the member for Bass on his maiden speech in this place today. The member for Bass is someone who has spent a lifetime on issues of sovereignty of Australia and it is important that we acknowledge his service, not only that which he commences in this place but his great service to our nation over many years.

The good news I have to report to the member for Bass is that for the first time in five years, since the previous government dismantled the measures that worked, the Australian government once again has the upper hand over the people smugglers. Not only are illegal arrivals down by 75 per cent in the first eight weeks of Operation Sovereign Borders coming into being but we are stopping more people coming through the region to this country, than are arriving, by a factor of 100 per cent. More people are being stopped coming through the region through our active cooperation—in particular, with Indonesia but also with Malaysia and all the way up through the region and back to source countries—and it is this combination of measures which is producing what is a very successful early result.

We said when we were in opposition and campaigning at the last election that we would make a difference from day one—and a 75 per cent reduction in the first eight weeks, I would say, is a good start. But it is not a final outcome and it is not the outcome we are seeking. The outcome we are seeking is the outcome that was achieved by the Howard government—that was the last government to stop the boats—and as each week passes we hope to see better results. But we are in the most dangerous period of all now, as we lead into the monsoon period. That means we need to be constant and ever-vigilant in our efforts.

These efforts have not only benefited Australia but also have benefited our good partner Indonesia. I can report, based on UNHCR figures, that since the election of this government the number of people coming into Indonesia has fallen from 1,638 people to 602. At the end of September, I should stress—one month after the new visa-on-arrival measures were in place in September—the figure was still 1,602. So in the month of October we saw a dramatic reduction of over 1,000, since the peak.

These are results that the government will continue to work on and continue to strive to get better. There is no single measure. We have increased our returns from our offshore-processing centres by 100 per cent. Removals from our offshore-processing centres that were occurring before the change of government and the start of Operation Sovereign Borders, and afterwards, have increased by 100 per cent. The progress is good. There is more work to be done.

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Can the minister provide details about a boat carrying Somalian asylum seekers arriving on Monday evening, in Darwin?

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

I thank the member for his question. This government is not running a shipping news service for people smugglers. As promised, we are running a military-led border security operation. As I just said, it is stopping the boats. Operation Sovereign Borders was established with clear communication protocols designed by the Joint Agency Task Force led by Lieutenant General Campbell to support the effectiveness of that operation.

Before the election, the coalition made it crystal clear that communications protocols for Operation Sovereign Borders would be determined by the Joint Agency Task Force, and that is exactly what we have done. These procedures are designed not to advantage people-smugglers, by restricting the official information available to those people-smugglers. People-smugglers use official information provided by governments, especially when that information is specific, to sell and promote their product and create perceptions amongst potential illegal entrants.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. If we can assist: it is no secret that the boats arrived; we just want to be able to use question time to elicit an answer from a minister. That is the fundamental of why we are here. To give an answer that is simply saying that they have a media strategy to not do that completely undermines the importance of question time and ministerial responsibility.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for your point of order. I think the minister in answering the question has indicated to you the specific information. He is giving you an answer in the negative, which is directly related to your question.

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

I can understand why the Manager of Opposition Business is fairly sensitive on this issue, as he holds the record for the highest number of illegal maritime arrivals in the nation's history.

But specific information, as I was seeking to explain, is used. It was used in the information that was provided by the previous government to provide an official proof of voyage for payment. It can also be used to decipher the posture of border protection assets. And it can be used to identify potential client pools, especially when nationalities are referred to.

I am not going to be part of a process, as a minister, that helps people-smugglers. I have spent the past four years dragging the previous government, kicking and screaming, towards restoring measures that they abolished, leading to chaos, cost and tragedy, to 50,000 illegal arrivals on more than 800 boats. There is a protocol in place. It has been put in place by the Joint Agency Task Force, headed up by Lieutenant General Campbell. I am not going to violate a process and undermine an operation that is stopping the boats. I am not going to assist people-smugglers, as those opposite are urging me to do. We are going to hold the line, we are going to protect the borders, we are going to make sure those borders are secure and we are going to make sure those boats are stopped. Each time members opposite wish to bring these matters into this place, I will remind them of the carnage they delivered on our borders.