Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. According to a transcript published on your ministerial website, you said yesterday that in this country we have 7,500 people who have not provided detail about their claims for protection and are fake refugees. Are you prepared to repeat in this parliament the misleading statement that 7,500 people are fake refugees or do you only make such accusations from the bully pulpit of a press conference? You know that every one of those people is entitled to have their claim independently assessed, that every one of them may be a genuine refugee and that the government is just beating up on a group of vulnerable people to try and lift its poll numbers.

Mr Pyne interjecting—

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

The Leader of the House will cease interjecting.

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

I thank the member very much for his question. To deal with the facts in relation to this matter, the honourable member, who was part of a coalition government with then Prime Minister Julia Gillard, will remember that when the Labor Party and Greens were in alliance they presided over a dismantling of John Howard's policies. At the time, when they came to government after Prime Minister Howard in 2007, they realised—and they will remember now—that there were only four people in detention, including no children. Under the watch of the Labor Party and the Greens in government in this country not only did 50,000 people arrive on 800 boats but, most tragically, at least 1,200 people drowned at sea. If you think that I am going to take a morals lecture from you, you have another thing coming.

The point I would make is that we are bringing refugees into this country in record number. We are doing it through the refugee and humanitarian program, which means that on a per capita basis we will bring more people into our country than any other nation in the world will bring into theirs, except for Canada. So we have an enormous amount to be proud of. We bring those people in, having verified their identity, having run the proper security checks and having made sure that those people who are coming to our country are going to take full advantage of the proposition put to them—that is, that being an Australian citizen provides a great opportunity and a great start in life for them, their children and generations to follow. Of that, all Australians should be very proud.

But we have been very clear, and I state it again today, that we are not going to allow people to settle in our country who have sought to come here by boat. We have been very clear about that. It has meant that for over a thousand days now we have not had a successful people-smuggling venture. It has meant—

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

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection will resume his seat. The member for Melbourne on a point of order?

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance: he was asked to repeat it here, and if he has not got the guts to do it he should sit down or withdraw it.

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

The member for Melbourne will resume his seat. There is no point of order. The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection is entirely in order. He has the call.

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

In terms of the policy that we have presided over, yes, we have a mess to clean up of Labor's making—there is no question about that. It has cost us as taxpayers $13.7 billion since 2007-08, and it costs us $1.9 billion a year as a country to provide services to the legacy caseload. There are some people, to which the member refers, who have taken a decision that they have not provided information as requested. Despite numerous requests by officials within my department, they have not provided information in relation to the claim that they are making, unlike thousands before them, who do provide that detail so that we can properly consider those cases. I have said that, by 1 October, if they do not have details provided to us, we are not going to tolerate that situation going forward. So I am not going to take a morals lecture from a member of the House who was involved in a government that saw people drown at sea and saw complete chaos, including 8,000 children in detention. (Time expired)

Honourable members interjecting—

Mr Bandt interjecting—

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

Members on both sides! The member for Melbourne will cease interjecting.