Mary Fisher (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is not only shutting down on this issue. There is also sophistry on this issue because the longer this government is in power the more unauthorised boat arrivals we face. There have been 45 unauthorised boat arrivals in the 14 months of this government. The more this government is in power, the softer this country seems to be on border protection. The government realises that, despite trying to say it is tough on border protection, the public is awakening to its being soft on border protection. So what does the government decide to do? It decides to create a distraction, a decoy, because it does not want the news to be about the unauthorised boat arrivals. It wants the news to be something else. So there is spin over substance; there is spin and a decoy. Last night in Sydney the Prime Minister delivered a speech to the Business Council of Australia. It was called ‘Building a big Australia’. What he did not say is that his government is intent on building a big Australia through unauthorised boat arrivals—