Mark Furner (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There is no use in playing politics on this issue, Senator Back. You need to deal with migration in a methodical, reasonable and responsible manner, rather than coming up with cheap slogans like, 'We will stop the boats.' You know, Madam Acting Deputy President, that I, as chair of the defence subcommittee, take a strong interest in defence matters. It was only last year, in July, that I was very fortunate to be on the parliamentary defence program at the border protection command in Darwin. On that day, it was actually the day on which the Prime Minister was on HMAS Bathurst, we went out into the harbour and saw firsthand how our hardworking, professional men and women on that ship deal with this issue. Low and behold, one of the opposition members of the House of Representatives, the member for Dickson, just had to ask the question. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to work out what the answer would have been to his question, which was: 'Why don't we just stop the boats? Why don't we just turn them around?' We are in the middle of the ocean somewhere, we cannot see land for miles around us, and here is the member for Dickson asking a stupid question like that. I knew what the answer would be, and sure enough it was: 'If you go around trying to stop the boats, the first sign of an Australian naval patrol boat will result in those people drilling holes in their hull, damaging their engines or do anything they can to make sure they are rescued.' We are dealing with desperate people. We are dealing with people who are coming from areas where they are persecuted, or where there is war or conflict, and you have these grubby people-smugglers getting them over here in any possible way, shape or form, whether it be in a leaky ex-fishing boat, whatever the case may be, regardless of its condition. We all watched, sadly, on our TVs last year as SIEV221 smashed up against the rocks on Christmas Island. I do not want to see that scene again and I am sure everyone in this chamber feels the same. That is why we need to work together on a solution to this issue.

Regardless of what the opposition does when this legislation comes into the parliament, it needs to reflect on its position, because at some stage in the future it will need to deal with this. It is not a case of coming up with cheap political slogans such as: 'We will stop the boats,' or 'We will pick up the boat phone and ring someone in Canberra who will deal with this issue.' You need to work through a humane solution and deal with it using a logical process.

I will focus on Nauru for a moment. We know that, as a result of that solution, somewhere around 60 per cent of those who were resettled from Nauru were resettled in Australia, and that a whopping 95 per cent of people resettled from Nauru ended up in Australia or New Zealand. It was not an outcome that worked, despite what those opposite would have you believe. It did not work. The reality is that 95 per cent of those people were resettled in our country and in New Zealand. We know that, not long ago, the member for Cook and also Mr Abbott visited Nauru and inspected what is a dilapidated migration centre. They came up with the view that it would have a significantly lower cost than the Malaysia solution. We know that is also not true; they have got it wrong. It will not be cheap or effective. It will be more costly, because of the changes that will need to be made on Nauru. That is why we as a government will not consider Nauru has a possibility in the legislation we introduce to deal with this issue. In fact, the highest level of Department of Immigration and Citizenship estimates are that the coalition's Nauru plan would cost taxpayers $980 million, almost $1 billion, in operational costs alone. That is $1 billion that could be spent elsewhere, on health or education, rather than refurbishing a centre that is basically inoperative.

Once again Mr Abbott needs to decide, for the sake of the coalition as an alternative government, to work with us on this issue. Migration to this country has always been an issue. I remember, back in the 1970s and the 1980s, when the Vietnamese boat people arrived on our shores. I still dread to remind myself of some of the redneck statements such as, 'Why don't we get the Navy out there and blow 'em out of the water.' I am certain that is not what the opposition is advocating, but it certainly stirred up xenophobia in our community. We need to make sure that those sorts of comments and views are oppressed and that we deal with this issue as a government—and as a government we can.