Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Politics is like a pack of cards: you can always tell when the government are out of aces because they only have one card left to play. It is no longer their tough talk of ‘We’re going to turn back the boats,’ as we heard Mr Rudd say when he was opposition leader; it is now Senator Marshall’s ‘compassion card’. As if somehow letting through any Tom, Dick or Harry who wants to come here in a boat is compassionate. It is not. It is not compassionate to encourage or provide incentives or opportunities for people to hop into leaky, crowded boats and cross dangerous seas in the hope that they will be intercepted by an Australian naval vessel and brought to this country, where they can claim asylum. It is not compassionate to do that.

Let me dispel a couple of other myths that Senator Marshall has put forward. He talked about how these people come from unfortunate circumstances. I would agree, and I am sure they do. I accept that there are many ‘maybes’ that Senator Marshall raised, and many people do come from extreme hardship and extreme poverty, and from areas and circumstances which are very difficult for us to comprehend. But let us not lose sight of the facts. The facts are that millions of people who are displaced, according to Senator Marshall, are doing the right thing—millions of them are doing the right thing and going to United Nations refugee camps. They are waiting their turn. They are applying appropriately and seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

The people Senator Marshall is talking about are fleeing impoverished circumstances and dangerous circumstances. But how, then, are these people are paying thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars to people smugglers to enter Australian waters illegally? That is why these vessels are called suspected illegal entry vessels because they are entering our waters illegally. These are people who are, in many cases, trashing their identification and making up a past—making up a number of circumstances so they can get into Australia, where of course life is better. Life is better in Australia, even if you are on the dole, than it is in many other places. Does that mean we should allow people to jump the queue and stop people from coming to this country via the appropriate humanitarian channels? I would say no. And to encourage anyone to enter this country illegally and take such extreme risks for themselves and their family, and to put other people’s lives at risk, is, quite frankly, irresponsible.

Once you get past the emotive arguments which tug at the heartstrings, arguments which are completed devoid of any real substance, which Senator Marshall offered, we have to come back to the facts and let logic determine how we should approach this. Here are the facts: the Rudd government changed the laws about illegal boats coming into this country and how we treat asylum seekers or illegal entrants. And what has happened? We have seen an explosion—you cannot describe it in any other way—in illegal entry vessels coming into this country. In 2002 and 2003 we had none. We had three boats in 2003-04, zero in 2004-05, eight in 2005-06, four the following year and three in 2007-08. Then the Rudd government comes in and we have 22 boats, with 1,039 people, entering our country illegally via illegal entry vessels. In 2009-10 we have had 20 boats so far, with another 964 people. The facts speak for themselves.

The Rudd government wound back effective policy that deterred people from taking unnecessary, unwarranted and very, very dangerous chances with their own lives and with other lives. And now what happens? We have the Bart Simpson of Australian politics, Mr Rudd, saying: ‘I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me.’ Let me tell you: there is a direct link. Labor changed the laws, and the boats, the hordes, started coming. The people smugglers went back into business because they knew that Australia had become a soft target under this government.

I do not know anyone who does not support Australia playing a compassionate and humanitarian role in dealing with displaced people, but it is not compassionate, it is not humanitarian, to support the business of people smugglers, who prey on the vulnerable and weak—and rich. They ignore the truly vulnerable, the impoverished, those who have no opportunities and no chance.

Question agreed to.