Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Will the minister update the House on the November monthly report on Operation Sovereign Borders?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Swan for his question and his close attention to these issues, and I table, for the purposes of answering the question, the monthly operational update for November for Operation Sovereign Borders. When I read the report, where it notes the number of suspected illegal entry vessels for the month of November, that number is zero. And I can tell you, that figure is on trend, because for 10 of the 11 months of this year that report has said zero—absolutely zero. There was one month when there was not a zero result, and that result was one—just one.

This is a significant achievement in a year of achievements for this government. This is one of the many issues that this government has been delivering on, and it has not happened by accident; it has happened by implementing the policies we said we would implement, with the resolve to see those policies through. And those opposite did not think it could happen. Those opposite said that the policies would not be implemented. The member for Corio said that turn-backs would never happen. But this is the same member who said that a China free trade agreement could not be done in a year; he said it would be pure fantasy. Well, I would say that the member for Corio lives on fantasy island when it comes to the issue of border protection or when it comes to the issue of free trade, which is another area where this government has been delivering.

But it has not always been thus, because under the previous ministers—and I refer particularly to those ministers who served in the previous government who now make up the economics team of the opposition—this was the result: the member for Watson, when he was the minister for immigration, had an average number of arrivals each month of 26. He was there for only two months, and 68 boats turned up on his watch. The member for McMahon, although he had a lower average, of 14 per month, had a total of 398 vessels turn up on his watch. So, I would say that if we are looking to their future, if they wish to be ministers in Treasury of Finance, then, based on when they were ministers for immigration, the only business model their policies ever supported was that of the people smugglers. Labor failed in government on this issue, but their bigger sin is that they now cannot admit that they did fail, and they cannot see success in policy when it stares them in the face.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, a point of order: could the Minister for Immigration clarify how many of those vessels came after he rejected the Malaysia agreement?

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

That is a breach of the standing orders, and the member knows it very well.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Those opposite do not understand failure when they see it, and they looked at it every single day they were in office, whether on our borders, in the budget or anywhere else. And they cannot see success either, when it is right in front of them, because they will turn back on turn-backs; they will not do turn-backs. The only thing that will turn back will be the policy of turn-backs under this government. They will bring boats back. They will not turn boats back, because on border protection their failure is writ large.