Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to address the coalition's MPI today in relation to the Gillard government's failure to secure our borders. Two incidents that have occurred today highlight why the coalition brought on the MPI. The first is that a standoff has developed on Nauru at a tiny Nauru courthouse where 14 asylum seekers are due to appear on rioting charges. As a result of the standoff, the appearance of the 14 men has now had to be delayed. All of the men due to appear at the courthouse are facing three charges which carry potential jail sentences of two to seven years. This is what has now happened under the government's current border protection policies.

The second incident which highlights the importance of the coalition's MPI is the following. Earlier today I addressed the Senate on the two appropriation bills that the Senate was debating. We were appropriating a further $1.67 billion, because the government has run out of money since the May budget due to its failed border protection policies. In my speech I referred to some statistics. Well, lo and behold, between the time I gave my speech this morning, at 10 am, and now, at 4 pm, when I am addressing the coalition's MPI, guess what? Quite ashamedly another boat has been intercepted, this time on Cocos Island and this time carrying 72 people.

So I now have to update the Senate again on the number of people who have arrived under the current Gillard Labor government—bearing in mind that at 10 am today, when I was addressing the issue of border protection, these figures were different. The total number of boat arrivals since November 2007, under successive Labor governments, is now 29,940. It has gone up by 72 since 10 am today. The total number of boats that have arrived under the Rudd-Gillard Labor government is now 513. The number of boats that have arrived this financial year is now 178.

Bear in mind that the government have only budgeted for 3,000 arrivals. So the government have taken from the taxpayer the money to pay for 3,000 boat arrivals this financial year. Guess how many have actually arrived—because, ladies and gentlemen; you get to pay for this. The government budgeted for 3,000 and, in the first five months of this financial year, 10,029 have arrived. So what is the bet—and the Australian taxpayer should be very aware of this—that come February 2013 we are back in this place and the Labor Party will be putting their hands further into the pockets of taxpayers, because they have so grossly underestimated the failure of their border protection policies.

Over 7,000 people have arrived since the government announced that it would commence offshore processing on Nauru. In that time, what the Australian people have witnessed is but a trickle of people who have been transferred to Nauru for offshore processing.

This is leading to heightened tensions in our immigration detention centres.

The bad news for Australians is this: this has been done before; we know exactly how this script is going to end. If you recall, because of putting increased tension on our detention centres, this time last year we had riots on Christmas Island.

This is a government that refuses to learn from its mistakes. It has been in this situation before. Because of overcrowding on Christmas Island, because of overcrowding at various detention centres throughout Australia, we have seen the result: riots. And when riots occur, things go very wrong: people get hurt; buildings are burnt down. And, in the end, what happens? The Australian taxpayer is yet again asked to pay to rectify a problem that is the direct result of the Gillard Labor government's failed border protection policies.

Asylum seekers—for those who may not be aware—are currently housed in tents on Christmas Island. They are housed in tents for one reason only: there are no more beds available for them on Christmas Island. Such is the extent of the number of people who are coming here, Christmas Island is once again full, so the department of immigration has had to get out tents to put people in. Again, what happened on Christmas Island the last time the government had people staying in tents? History now records that there were massive riots and the Australian taxpayer had to cough up the money to pay for the damage that was caused as a result of the riots, and these costs can be put squarely back at the fault of this government's border protection policies.

This is not the only problem associated with the government's failure to control its borders. Look at Customs and border protection. It is no longer just the coalition that has issues with the government's border protection policy. The Community and Public Sector Union have now gone on the record confirming that the damage the Labor staffing cuts are doing to Australia's national security is real. The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is being forced by Labor to cut a further 20 frontline staff from Sydney Airport and another 38 staff from the intelligence division, and this is all part of the 190 staff to be cut from Customs so that the Labor Party has some hope of perhaps delivering a very small budget surplus next year.

Again, this is not the coalition speaking; this is Nadine Flood, the National Secretary of the CPSU. Nadine Flood said that 'the work that these Customs staff do is absolutely crucial' and 'the CPSU does not think that that particular portfolio can handle those cuts'. When you have a union that comes out and criticises its mates on the other side—the majority of them former unionists back in the good old days—you need to start worrying. It is not just the coalition that is now criticising the way the Gillard government is handling our borders. The unions are now coming out and saying, seriously, you can only compromise Australia's security so far, which is exactly what the Labor Party have done, and then there are real issues to be tried. That is exactly where we find ourselves at the moment.

If you want to talk about cuts to border protection, and in particular Customs, in the 2009-10 budget, Labor cut the budget for cargo screening by $58.1 million. Labor cut aerial surveillance by $20.8 million and 2,215 aerial surveillance hours or more than 90 days. Labor cut boat interception funding by $48.1 million over the forward estimates. In the 2012-13 budget, Customs was forced to cut one in five senior executive service officers. Labor have cut $9.3 million in 2014-15 from Customs, and in the latest MYEFO it has been estimated that a further $35 million will be cut from Customs over the forward estimates.

This is a government that has left our front line of border protection, our Customs and border protection agencies, so ill-equipped that it is little wonder that illegal weapons, drugs and other contraband are now coming into Australia and making their way onto our streets. This is a direct result of Labor's failed border protection policies. The fact that they do not learn from their mistakes and, therefore, the Australian taxpayer gets to keep—and I notice Senator Collins actually mimicking me as I speak—