Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I will take that interjection from someone else who obviously does not know too much about the matter. It is useful to look at the actual facts of this matter. Twelve and 16 people, respectively, came from Sri Lanka. They are in different circumstances, but I think you will find that out of 763 people it would not be a demographic you would die on the list about. It just would not be a demographic about which you would say, ‘That’s certainly a push factor’, because that would be unmitigated rubbish, as it is most of the time we hear from that side, and it is completely uninformed. What about that other surprising demographic, the two Bhutanese fishermen who were washed up in an esky? That gives you 30 out of 763.

We have this push factor, but we are just one country in a global situation. You have to think about what is happening in places like Europe, with its 27 states. They have had an increase of six per cent. That is a significant increase. Perhaps there is an amazing refugee movement out there. So how is it that Australia has had a 19 per cent increase across the board? We have had that increase because we have had a change in policy, and to talk about the push factor being such an important issue is being in complete and absolute denial.

Senator Evans stood up here, and people were gasping around me when he said, ‘We have had no change in policy. There is no policy difference.’ Under the policies of the previous coalition government, processing at offshore excised places ensured that unauthorised arrivals did not have access to Australia’s extensive administrative and judicial review processes. It also meant that successful asylum seekers did not have an automatic right to apply for a temporary protection visa, and I suspect the Greens, at least, said they did not like that about us. The government is saying that is the policy we have today. The facts of the matter are, according to the same Minister Evans, that unauthorised arrivals taken to excised places have access to legal advice, independent review, oversight by the Ombudsman and an automatic right to apply for a permanent protection visa. That sounds to me like it is completely different. There are absolutely no similarities at all.

But, apart from the government being in denial, there is no pull factor; it is all push. We have wiped the push out. We understand that you managed 30 out of over 760. The fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of people who come to this country on a vessel expect to have a permanent migration outcome in 90 days. The last vessel was yesterday. Maybe I should check. It is only five o’clock; there may be another one today—who would know?