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 current Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. In noting that last performance, I refer to reports that the minister texted the Prime Minister offering his resignation. Has the minister got a text back yet? In fact, has the minister discussed any government policy with the Prime Minister since Monday evening?

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister can ignore the last part of the question.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The most recent conversation I had with the Prime Minister was in relation to the 12,000 Syrians that we are bringing to our country. The Prime Minister was very supportive of this decision in cabinet, and the Prime Minister and I have discussed at length the way in which those 12,000 people can be brought into our country. This is a very important point: we have had great success through stopping the boats. We had 50,000 people arriving on 800 boats when Labor were last in power—1,200 people drowned at sea when Labor were in power and they lost complete control of our borders. But, because of the fact that we have had a very strong position as a government, supported by the Prime Minister over the course of the last two years and implemented by the Minister for Social Services, we have been able to deliver a dividend by allowing those 12,000 people to find a new home in a way that they could never have imagined.

It is important to recognise that we have 13,750 people already coming in under the refugee and humanitarian program. That means that we are more generous than any other country in the world. When I was in Europe last week, the French announced that they would bring 24,000 people from Syria into their country. The United States announced they would bring in 10,000 people and David Cameron said that the UK would bring in 20,000 people. Those numbers demonstrate that we are a very, very generous nation.

It would not be possible to create a new life for those people if we had not fixed the problem that Labor left us. We could not allow tens of thousands of people to flow illegally across our borders and still afford the opportunity to these people who are absolutely desperate in Syria.

Ms Chesters interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Bendigo will leave under 94(a). She has been warned three times.

The member for Bendigo then left the chamber .

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If you are asking me what the interest of this Prime Minister is in border protection, he wants an absolute continuation of the success that we have had in stopping the boats. He wants to make sure that we can show compassion to these 12,000 people as they arrive to provide the settlement services that they need to create a new life, and that is exactly what this government will do.