Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move a motion:

Leave not granted.

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

I give the call to the Leader of the Opposition.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Honourable Member for Maribyrnong from moving the following motion forthwith:

That the House:

(1) notes the:

(a) Prime Minister's failure to lead an 'open and transparent' government, despite promising the Australian people he would;

(b) repeated failure of the Minister for Immigration to answer questions inside and outside the Parliament; and

(c) Government's setting aside of ministerial responsibility to pursue media spin; and

(2) calls on the Minister for Immigration to immediately explain:

(a) details about the boat carrying Somali asylum seekers that arrived in Darwin on 11 November 2013;

(b) reported statements by BASARNAS concerning the Australian interception of an asylum seeker vessel and subsequent actions and events on or around November 7; and

(c) how the Government intends to pursue its election commitment to turn back boats to Indonesia and buy back boats in fishing villages.

Why is it that Australians can find out more about Australian government policies in the Jakarta Post than from the hapless Minister for Immigration and Border Protection? The government opposite promised to be an open-door and transparent government. They made it incredibly clear and made a lot of noise that they would in fact be an open government. Many Australians, I suspect, have not signed up to a subscription to the Jakarta Post. Instead, they hope that our own media will be able to tell them what the government are doing on an important issue like boats. But can they find in our own media all of the details? No, they cannot. They need to rely on Indonesian newspapers to tell them what the Australian government are unwilling to tell us.

Before the 7 September election, these people opposite said they were going to be the big champions of accountability. Instead, the Australian government is treating Australians very poorly—

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

I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that he is speaking to a motion to suspend standing orders and that he is providing reasons for the suspension.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is very important to suspend the orders in order to have the debate because Australians deserve better in terms of finding out what is going on with important policy issues. But we know that this is a government which loves to hide and which makes the Australian people seek out what they are doing. For instance, if it were not so addicted to hiding from the Australian people, where is the budget update to justify what is going on by increasing our debt to half a trillion dollars?

They have refused to provide timely and detailed information about boat arrivals and interceptions. We saw that remarkable display from the minister for immigration where, whenever he is asked a question about matters, he says, 'It's an operational matter,' or 'It's not Friday' or 'The matter is on water.' Members of the House: what boat issue is not going to be on the water? There is an arrogance creeping into this government, which has even been identified by members of the media.

Respected political commentator Laurie Oakes has written that it is disgusting and that the government is thumbing its nose at voters. In 2010 the Prime Minister said to the same respected journalist that his position did indeed change his mind in response to changing circumstances. But the only changing circumstances about the requirement for openness is that the then opposition leader was elected to be the Prime Minister. He said, 'The last thing we want to do is hide anything from the Australian people.' Before the election he said he would issue an alert whenever there was a boat coming through. Now he has gone back on that promise. We believe he said, in full disclosure: 'There is no full disclosure underway in this government.' What he and his spokesperson actually say about turning back the boats is: 'We won't tell you.'

We heard question after question today asking: how many boats are being turned back? We got the ridiculous explanation: 'If we told you how our policy is working, somehow the people smugglers would be encouraged.' Any simple exercise of logic says that, if you are beating the people smugglers, why not tell them indeed? The issue is that they are not the government that they promised to be when they were elected.

We are then told that when a boat comes into Darwin Harbour we cannot talk about that because it is not a Friday. Australians deserve better. We know that this is a government who are addicted to saying one thing in opposition and another in government. They said that Labor was scaring people about massive cuts. What do they do when they get in? They cut the superannuation benefits of 3½ million Australians.

Only a coalition addicted to secrecy could say that it is better to give a tax break to 16,000 people with $2 million in their superannuation, but for 3½ million Australians—

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

I ask the Leader of the Opposition to return to the subject of the standing orders suspension which is relevant to this debate.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate what Madam Speaker is saying. It is our intention to suspend standing orders so we can address the issue of secrecy, so we can address the inability of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to explain and his hiding behind 'Everything is operational, everything is to do with the military, everything is on a boat, everything is at water.' He is at sea!

We are talking about this matter of the Prime Minister promising to lead an open and transparent government. He came up with another cracker of a slogan. He said there would be no surprises and no excuses. But when something is an operational matter, that is an excuse. When something is at sea, that is an excuse.

Why is it that after all the good work that the previous government did building positive relations with Indonesia, these foreign relations vandals have got into power and started dictating what should be the case to other countries? Diplomacy requires respect. Not providing any debate or respect and telling people what to do and simply treating everything in terms of the next domestic slogan is not the way to conduct a government.

Most importantly in terms of this proposition, Labor on this side knows that the Australian people deserve the respect of a full explanation. Day after day, we have seen the minister for immigration deny, obfuscate and avoid the real issues. Today we saw a brazen attempt. When he was asked, 'What is it that you can't tell parliament today that you'll tell tomorrow?' we got an explanation unprecedented since Federation: 'It's not in the folder'! What will we get next week? 'The dog ate my homework'? 'I left my running gear at home and my explanation was there'?

It is not good enough for a minister of the Commonwealth to say, 'It's in the folder and, if it's not in the folder, then I know nothing.' Sergeant Schultz on Hogan'sHeroes said, 'I know nothing.' What he should have said is, 'It is not in the folder, therefore I know nothing'! It is not appropriate to say, 'If it is not in the folder, I can't help you.' All we get from the minister for immigration is a folder carrier, a postbox, someone who says, 'I can't help you today, but I might come back tomorrow.'

The business of government is not just a Friday matter and then you take the other six days off. The business of government is not hiding behind the military and saying five times in a row at a press conference that you will handball it to the military. The military should not be used to do the job of ministers. Ministers should be used to do the jobs of ministers. It is not enough and it is not satisfactory to say, 'We can't tell you how many boats we've turned back, because that might tell the people smugglers what's going on.' I actually think that the minister for immigration inadvertently tripped over the truth.

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

I ask the Leader of the Opposition to come back to the suspension question.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course, Madam Speaker. I appreciate your guidance. The minister for immigration stumbled across a correct morsel of an answer in amongst the nuggets of nonsense.

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

Suspension starts with an S.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What he said was, 'The answer, if I give it, will encourage the people smugglers.' I go: 'Ah ha! A light bulb moment for the minister for immigration!' Of course the answer will encourage the people smugglers, because it is not working. I understand why he does not want to answer. I love these people opposite! No, I don't. I appreciate the inadvertent humour of those opposite. They say the numbers are down. Well, of course they are—because of Labor's PNG solution. Be gracious enough to give us a little bit of credit.

In conclusion: it is not satisfactory to say, 'If I did not bring my folder today, I'm not playing and I'm not answering questions.' It is not satisfactory to say that a matter relating to boats is on the water. Thank you for that, Descartes! 'It is water, therefore I can't answer.' That is not good enough. The Australian people deserve better and our communications from the coalition should not be via TheJakarta Post. Do better, Minister.

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

Is the motion seconded?

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

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

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

The Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about secrecy. I want to talk about the success that the Australian people deserve—the success of putting in place measures that deal with a very significant issue of failure that this government is having to address on a daily basis.

If we are talking about results here—because that is what the Australian people are interested in—every week the Australian people are being updated on the results that are occurring because of the government's initiatives. Under the previous government, the results were 50,000 people illegally arriving on more than 800 boats. In addition to that, there was a budget blow-out of more than $11 billion. Over 14½ thousand people who were seeking protection in Australia by applying offshore through the proper process were denied a protection visa in Australia because their visa and their protection went to someone who came illegally on a boat.

But, above and beyond all that, the results that were achieved under the previous government after they abolished those measures were: over 1,100 people dying at sea.

They are the results that so appalled the Australian people that at the last election they elected this government to restore the measures that worked. At that election we went to the Australian people and said what we were going to do. We said we were going to restore the measures that worked under the Howard government. We said we were going to put in place a regional deterrence framework, working with our partners throughout the region to ensure that we could put in place the deterrents—not the accommodations that were put in place by the previous government—that would stop people getting on these boats and stop the cost, the chaos and the tragedy, which was the story of the previous government that the Australian people wanted to see closed and ended.

All of the measures that we took to the last election are part of the arsenal of measures we are employing on this task. Those measures include the implementation of Operation Sovereign Borders. Operation Sovereign Borders is a military-led border security operation where the commander of the Joint Agency Task Force was appointed by the Chief of the Defence Force. It was his appointment. We tasked the JADF to put in place the arrangements for successfully implementing this policy. Part of the arrangements that the JADF put in place was a set of communication protocols designed to manage information so as not to advantage people smugglers.

They are the protocols this government is following, and they are the protocols the Leader of the Opposition and members opposite are inviting me to break, to violate and to undermine. They are asking me to undermine the judgment and the protocols put in place by the commander of the Joint Agency Task Force, who was in fact appointed by the Chief of the Defence Force. I am disappointed that the opposition would seek to reflect on that appointment and on the decisions of the Joint Agency Task Force.

As minister, I am ensuring that those protocols and those operations are being put in place, as they were designed to do. The results they are achieving, which are being provided to the Australian people, live up to the promise we made before the last election, which was to make a difference from day one. The difference is this: a 75 per cent reduction in illegal arrivals by boat to Australia since Operation Sovereign Borders was put in place. All of the measures we took to the last election are being implemented through Operation Sovereign Borders.

The members opposite have reflected on the measures that were introduced by the previous government. I would add this advice to the members opposite. The biggest measure that this government has in addressing the disastrous record of the government that preceded us, which opened our borders and left people dead in the water, is this: the resolve of this government. It is the resolve of this government that puts the steel in the measures that makes them work. The members opposite, over the years they served in government, as arrivals went from tens to hundreds to thousands, thought the answer to all of this was a press conference and a signing ceremony. They thought the answer was to flip and flop with the wind, ridden by division and double-mindedness. That sent the message loud and clear to the people smugglers that the former government was not serious and its heart was not in it. The Australian people knew it and they threw them out of office because they knew the former government was not serious about this issue and they would never have the resolve to carry it off.

That is why I said before that any measure dealing with deterrence of people smuggling to Australia will always be safer and more effective in the hands of the coalition than it will ever be in the hands of the members opposite, because the people smugglers know that they just do not believe it. That is why we have seen that when the coalition got its hands back on offshore processing and the belated measures that the previous government was dragged kicking and screaming to introduce, they really began to work, and they will really continue to work, because we have applied ourselves not to the speaking but to the operation and implementation. This government does not talk about doing things; it does things. That is what we were elected to do—we were elected to do things.

The members opposite always thought the answer to every political crisis was a political response and a press conference. With the Malaysian people swap they put in place from August to May 2011, which was negotiated in secret, I stress that as they flipped and flopped and demonstrated their inconsistency over so many points, they made one critical error at the time they released the announcement. The error they made on that occasion was not that they kept those negotiations secret for so long. The error they made was that they announced the Malaysian people swap on the eve of the budget as a political stunt to avoid another weekend embarrassment for their government. In doing so they effectively blew any potential operational effectiveness of that measure, because they announced an agreement that was not done.

This government is not going to make the same mistakes the previous government did when it comes to border protection. When we talk to other governments we will do it discreetly and privately. When we put arrangements in place we will put them in place so that they are effective. We will not be providing running commentaries. We will not be running a shipping news service for people smugglers. We will be managing the information in a way that continues to achieve results.

The opposition is missing the point. The opposition think that this is an issue for sport. The Australian people have had enough of the sport, enough of the histrionics, enough of the talking. What they want are results. What I can report to the Australian people, as we have each week, is that the boats are stopping. That is what we committed to the Australian people to do and that is what we will use every fibre in the being of this government to continue to deliver. We are stopping the boats. We said that we would stop the boats. It was those opposite who set the boats running, and it is those opposite who sit so ashamed of their performance that they are engaged in these childish games to undermine the operational effectiveness of an operation that is working. This government has the resolve and the unity of purpose to get this job done. The opposition is looking for sport. I suggest that they look for it somewhere else.

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

I second the resolution. I cannot remember the last time that a minister ran out of material at the beginning of their speech. People talk about how difficult it might be to make the transition from government to opposition. Who has ever made a worse transition from opposition to government? We have a situation in which the person who was their star in opposition has become an absolute embarrassment in government. The reason that we should suspend standing orders today is because, if question time is to mean anything at all, ministers have to be willing to answer questions here.

What we have had from the minister for immigration is an acknowledgment that he will put information out as part of a media strategy, as though the media strategy is the only part of his job that matters. And there is a reason why he does not have to worry about any other part of his job. Other than the media strategy, he has not implemented any of the new policies that he promised at the election. How many boats have they bought in Indonesian fishing villages? There is no doubt in anyone's mind that not one boat has been bought in Indonesian fishing villages—not one. Every Australian knows it; everyone in Indonesia knows that it is ridiculous. But this minister wants us to believe that it is secret operational matter and that he will decide whether or not I will tell you on a Friday afternoon—that great time to get a message out to the Australian people.

The journalists have been complaining for some time about the fact that basic pieces of information are not being made available to them. But we did not think that that culture of secrecy would extend all the way to the floor of this parliament. If you are a minister in a country that does not have the Westminster system of government, you do not have to come to the floor of a parliament. But I thought that the Westminster system was important to some of the people in this room. I thought that we opened the parliament with reference to the idea that there only being a couple of traditions in Australia, and one of the two is British. If the Westminster tradition matters, how come we have a minister who refuses to pass on information when the only defence is he has is, 'Oh, it's not in my folder'? Lots of people have come up with excuses over the years. But no child would get away with 'the dog ate my homework' as readily as the minister thinks he can get away with 'Oh, it's not in my folder.'

If they have turned back boats, what is the possible argument that it would help people smugglers for that to be public? We have had four years of the Prime Minister, while he was the Leader of the Opposition, telling us that that would be a deterrent and that that would send a message. Now from the minister for immigration we find that it is a secret message! 'We have to make sure that the people smugglers do not know. Damn: sometimes, the Jakarta Post might find out, but hopefully we can keep the deterrents under wraps.'

Notice also that whenever the minister for immigration or the Prime Minister talk about the reduction in the number of the boats they include dates prior to when the regional resettlement arrangements were put in place. When they choose a two-week period they will never choose the final two weeks before the election, when it was down to one boat each week. You will not find them referring to that. I remember your complaint in the Daily Telegraph, Minister, when you said, 'It's not the policy; it's the weather.' We remember that one, too.

If you want to be a minister in this parliament who is accountable to the Australian people, you need to recognise that they have a right to know. They have a right to know through the press gallery and through the media and they certainly have a right to know under the Westminster system within this parliament and on the floor of this House. We have gone from turn the boats to telephone the boats to buy the boats to hide the boats. We have a minister who, the moment he was elected, went from being the most public voice to donning the invisibility cloak and wanting to hide. He is the greatest embarrassment that this government has. We should suspend standing orders to compel him to provide the information to the parliament and to answer the questions that have been asked that he so callously refuses to answer. (Time expired)

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

The question is that the motion to suspend standing orders be agreed to.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.