Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

How can anybody believe the opposition when they say they will stop the boats? We know that our experts—our Navy personnel—have said that it is too dangerous for the boats to be turned back. It is not a political statement; it is about keeping people alive. Despite the fact that the coalition boast that they will turn the boats back to Indonesia, the ambassador has said that no such collaboration will happen between Indonesia and Australia.

You are peddling lies on this issue in an attempt to make politics out of what is a very difficult public policy problem, which I find completely offensive. You do it again and again because you do not actually want a solution to this problem; you just want to play politics with it. Everyone in this chamber knows that. (Time expired)