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

Senator, you are quite right: from 1999 to 2001 it did not stop arrivals. One of the reasons why the Howard government increased the resources available was to try and ensure that any unauthorised arrivals were intercepted prior to landing on the mainland. The Howard government failed in that on a number of occasions and there were a number of mainland landings. But this government has increased patrolling resources and finances to build on the systems under Border Protection Command to patrol and manage our borders. They focus on unlawful unauthorised arrivals but they also focus on illegal fishing, as you well know, and any other issues of security concern in terms of entry to Australia. They play a similar role to that played by our Customs and Immigration officers at airports—that is, intercepting people and ensuring that their arrival is managed.

The senator’s question about whether or not people are deterred is obviously an important one. What we have found over the years is that it is partly about deterrence, but a large part is about interception and identification and ensuring that we manage anyone seeking to fish illegally or arrive unlawfully. That is the purpose and that is why we resource it seriously. (Time expired)