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

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I refer the minister to the fact that a staggering 85 per cent of the 40,000 offshore humanitarian applicants were refused Australian visas last year compared to just nine per cent of applicants who arrived here illegally by boat. Why does this government persist in penalising those who do the right thing and persist with policies that encourage people smugglers?