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

When Labor senators on the other side throw around statistics, they need to be very, very careful because statistics do not lie. Mr McClelland was asked in the parliament on 11 June: ‘How many children does the Labor Party currently have in detention behind bars?’ Do you know what the answer was? Was it higher than the 21 that were in detention when the coalition left office in 2007? Yes, it was. The answer was this: ‘Currently’—because the figure might have changed by the time he got back to his office—‘the Labor Party has 528 children behind bars.’ That is a complete failure of their border protection policies.

Despite its protestations, despite the hysterics coming from the other side and despite what it says are very tough words, the Labor Party does not have the moral ground when it comes to border protection. That is owned by the coalition, let me assure you. Under the soft approach to border protection employed by Mr Rudd, over 6,300 people have now risked their lives trying to get to this country. There is nothing humanitarian about implementing policies that encourage people, including women and children, to risk their lives to come to this country.

This is what the Labor Party does not want to tell the people of Australia and what it is afraid the people of Australia may find out: that under coalition governments Australia has a very strong and proud history of refugee resettlement. When the last coalition government was in power do you know how many refugees we resettled in Australia? We resettled in excess of 100,000 refugees and, when we get back into government shortly, we will continue to be committed to supporting Australia’s generous intake of refugees.

The major difference between us and those on the other side is that, for the betterment of this country and for the safety of women, children and families who may well seek to put their lives at risk, we believe in a fair and orderly immigration process for those coming to this country. What Mr Rudd again forgets to tell the people of Australia is that for every place that is given to a refugee who has come here unlawfully we have to say to those refugees who have done the right thing, ‘I’m sorry, mate, but someone else who did the wrong thing has taken your place in Australia.’

The coalition is very proud to stand by its commitment to priority being given to those who are offshore and who have done the right thing. Those who are in the United Nations refugee camps do not have US$10,000, US$15,000 or US$20,000 to pay to people smugglers, who, let us recall, Mr Rudd called the vilest form of human life. They do not have that money. They have nothing. They seek to do the right thing when coming to this country. Mr Rudd and the Labor Party are only interested in scoring cheap political points to deflect from their gross failure in border protection. There is no doubt that the boats will keep coming unless we elect a coalition government.

Question agreed to.