Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The number of boats that arrived last year was 60, and the number of people who arrived last year as unlawful offshore arrivals was 2,726. I can take on notice the question on the number since the Senate rose, Senator Cash, if you are interested in that figure, but clearly that is not how we record the statistics. We do not align the statistics with the sitting of the Senate; we actually collect annual figures.

What I can tell the Senate is that this year we have had nine boat arrivals and last year there were 60. I can also confirm the information that in 1999 under the Howard government there were 86 boat arrivals, with 3,721 people; in 2000 there were 51 boat arrivals, with 2,939 persons; and in 2001 there were 43 boat arrivals, with 5,516 people. So last year was the fourth highest in terms of arrivals; the top three years were under the Howard government when it was dealing with the spike in people leaving Afghanistan and Iraq; when it, like the rest of the world, was dealing with that problem during a particular period. We are now dealing with the situation in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in particular, where we have seen large numbers of people fleeing. Those people have been fleeing all around the world. That has seen an increase in arrivals in Australia but it has also seen an increase in arrivals in Canada, Europe and most other Western countries. Those are the figures for last year and this year but, as I remind the Senate, we have had arrivals in about 25 of the last 30 years. (Time expired)