Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The answers of the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in question time today proved yet again how chronically negligent Labor are when it comes to ensuring the security of this nation. Labor have failed the first responsibility of a Commonwealth government—to ensure the security of the nation and its people. Its continued claims that there is no causal link between the winding back of the strong Howard government policies and the increase in the number of unlawful arrivals on Australia’s shores become more absurd and more far fetched every single day as another boat arrives.

Let us run through the statistics again. There have been 17 unauthorised boat arrivals in the last eight weeks, 44 unauthorised boats since the Rudd government began their dismantling of Australia’s border protection regime and over 2,069 people have now risked their lives to come to Australia. For a Prime Minister who in a speech to the parliament in 2002 acknowledged that a government must be judged on its actions, not through the political rhetoric of government, this evidence shows that he stands condemned. He stands condemned for his government’s actions and the failure of his government when it comes to border security, condemned out of the words of his own mouth. The minister and the government are an abject failure when it comes to discharging border security policy.

If you want to talk about rhetoric, Annabel Crabb sums it up nicely today in her article:

… anyone who in the past 10 days has been knocking the top off a cold one every time the Prime Minister describes his own immigration policy as “unapologetically tough” would by now be too plastered to read this column.

Labor is contemptuous of its fundamental responsibility to maintain border security. Labor has shown contempt for the people of Australia by abrogating to the people smugglers the right to determine who comes to this country lawfully. But further, and more shamefully, Labor is contemptuous of those people who seek to enter this country lawfully through recognised migration channels.

What message is the Labor Prime Minister of Australia giving to those hundreds of thousands of people who are currently housed in United Nations refugee camps around the world and who have made proper applications—they have gone through medical and other screening tests—in an effort to seek lawful entry into Australia and other countries around the world? Mr Rudd’s message to those people who attempt to go down the legal route is this: ‘Thanks for doing the right thing, mate, but sorry—we can’t assist you because we’ve abrogated Australia’s lawful right to decide who enters our country to the people smugglers.’ What sovereign government abandons the refugees who want to enter Australia lawfully—because that is what they have done—and lets the people smugglers decide who can come to this country?

There will always be push factors across the world, but what we do not need is the foot on the accelerator approach taken by the government through a set of pull factors created by them. The reality for Rudd Labor is that, as long as it continues to dismantle the coalition’s strong border protection measures and put out the Rudd welcome mat to the people smugglers, the pull factors will see a surge in people smuggling continue. Mr Rudd must take decisive and direct action to stop this despicable trade. How much more money from Australian taxpayers will Mr Rudd pay to Indonesia to keep his own hands clean? How many more people will put their lives at risk as a result of Labor’s softened border protection policies? Mr Rudd and the minister, Senator Evans, must stand before the Australian people and admit to them that Labor has failed on border protection.