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

At the request of Senator Fifield, I move:

That the Senate notes Labor’s failure to secure the borders and stop the boats.

Without a doubt, the Australian people have come to learn that when it comes to border protection in this country their current Prime Minister—I think we on this side and the public use that term 'current' very loosely, given that we are coming to the end of what is known as the killing week; we have one more week to go, and it may well be a killing week—is very long on rhetoric, but when it comes to the actual policy delivery of stated goals she fails at every stop.

The Prime Minister needs to understand that, despite her announcement yesterday, which came with a lot of fanfare, that she is off to Indonesia to meet with the Indonesian President, she cannot pull the wool over the Australian people's eyes. When it comes to border protection in this country, the Australian people gave up on Labor a long, long time ago. It is very convenient that the Prime Minister, knowing that an election is but a few months away, has suddenly found a renewed interest in border protection in Australia.

You might recall, Mr Deputy President, that prior to the 2010 election we had not heard a lot from Ms Gillard about border protection. Suddenly, when she realised that the Australian people were going to cast a vote she found a renewed interest in this policy. What did she do? She raced off to the Lowy Institute and announced what has gone down in history as the Labor Party's failed East Timor solution. There is a pattern of behaviour: consistent failure after failure after failure and then, suddenly, weeks before an election there is a renewed interest in border protection policy and a grandiose announcement is made. We know what happened to the East Timor plan—it fell flat on its face like so much when it comes to border protection under a Labor government. We know that the only reason the Prime Minister is going to Indonesia is so that she can say to the Australian people, after so many years of doing absolutely nothing to secure Australian borders: 'It's election time. Guess what? I am finally doing something.'

As the shadow minister for immigration said, I think the Australian people see right through this Prime Minister on this issue. They know that she not only cannot be trusted to come up with a plan on this issue; she cannot be trusted to implement one either. The trust quotient for this government on border protection is in deficit—ironically, just like the Labor budget—and no amount of grandstanding by the Prime Minister is going to change that fact.

When Australians read the front page of the Australian this morning they saw that Dennis Shanahan had written an article entitled 'Kevin Rudd's date with destiny looms'. In his article, Mr Shanahan says:

The Labor Party is heading towards a change of leadership next week.

Julia Gillard's supporters and defenders are slipping away, and Kevin Rudd faces increasing pressure to drop his unrealistic conditions of being drafted and to stand.

Mr Shanahan goes on to predict:

Right now it looks like Rudd by Friday week.

The Australian people and, quite frankly, those Gillard supporters who have not quite made the move over to Mr Rudd need to remember one thing. If they do change to Mr Rudd next Friday, thinking that will make a change to border protection policy in this country, they are going to be sadly disappointed. Mr Rudd in a speech to the parliament in June 2002, commenting on the Migration Legislation Amendment (Further Border Protection Measures) Bill and reflecting on national security under the then Howard government, said:

It depends on concrete measures taken in each of these substantive domains so that this nation is truly secure, not simply projected to be secure through the political rhetoric of this government.

Isn't it funny? You can say one thing in this place when in opposition and then find that, when you get into government and fail time and time again, as Mr Rudd did when he was Prime Minister, your words come back to bite you:

… this nation is truly secure, not … projected to be secure through the political rhetoric of government.

When it comes to Ms Gillard we know it is all political rhetoric, because these are the facts.

In just the last two days that we have all been here in Canberra—and I am going to have to discount today because I have not yet been brought up to speed on the number of boats that have arrived—on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we have witnessed the arrival of two more illegal boats, with a total of 140 people on them. That is on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week alone. What does that translate into? In this month alone—and remember we are but 19 days into this month—Australia has witnessed the arrival of more than 2,000 people. In this month alone, because of this government's border protection failures, Australia has witnessed the arrival of just over 2,000 people. We are currently seeing arrival rates of 100 people per day. One hundred people per day are arriving illegally in this country by boat because of the failure of those on that side of this chamber in relation to border protection policy.

Contrast that with the record of the Howard government. There are 100 people per day arriving currently. How is this for a compare and contrast? Fewer than 250 people arrived in the last six years of the Howard government. And those on that side have the audacity to stand up in this place and say that we are not dinkum when it comes to securing the borders of this country. In the last six years of the Howard government, 250 people arrived. When we lost office in 2007, four people were in immigration detention who had arrived here illegally by boat. In the last three days under this government, the boat arrivals for the last six years of the Howard government have been well and truly exceeded. If that is not a policy failure of the most grotesque kind, I do not know what is.

Almost 45,000 people have now arrived illegally by boat in Australia since August 2007. Numbers do not really mean a lot sometimes. You need to put them into context. So let us put boat arrivals under the Gillard-Rudd Labor government into context. Forty-five thousand people have arrived here, at a cost to the Australian taxpayer now in excess of $10 billion, because of the failed policies of those opposite. The Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us that 32,085 people live in Gladstone. So they have exceeded the population of Gladstone. In Tamworth, there are 36,157 people, the ABS say. They have exceeded the population of Tamworth. In Devonport, Mr Deputy President, in your home state of Tasmania, there are 22,770 people. So the number of illegal boat arrivals under this government is double the population of Devonport. In my home state, Geraldton has a population of 31,364. We have well and truly exceeded the population of Geraldton. That is the very sorry factual history of border protection failure under the Rudd and Gillard Labor government.

With Dennis Shanahan's predictions looming, everybody knows the mood in this place has just gone dead this week. We all read the news. We hear what the Labor Party people say to us quietly behind closed doors. Why would you go back to Mr Rudd? We all know what you think of him, because you told the Australian people that earlier this year. Crikey! The people of Australia know exactly what you think of Mr Rudd. You yourselves went on record to tell the Australian people what you thought of him. Why would you go back to the man whom you politically executed almost three years ago, with one of the reasons for the execution being that he failed to stop the boats coming to this country? If he was such a failure three years ago, how has he changed in any way? Has he suddenly had an epiphany and gone: 'You know, I was wrong. I was wrong to wind back the proven border protection policies of the Howard government.' Has Mr Rudd had that epiphany? No, absolutely not. The Australian people have the right to ask those opposite.

You are playing with our Prime Minister. We may not elect the Prime Minister directly like they do the President in America, but I can tell you that Australian people think they do, and they did not look kindly on those opposite when the person that the Australian people believed they voted for as Prime Minister was taken out during a backroom deal one late night, on 24 June 2010. If next week those on the other side determine that they want to take out Ms Gillard, just to save their own political skins, the Australian people again will judge them very, very harshly. What the Labor Party need to understand—and the Australian people understand this, because Australians are not stupid; Australians are actually very smart when it comes to policies in this country—is that, if they take out Ms Gillard next week and replace her with Mr Rudd, the only thing that will change in the Labor Party will be the person at the top.

The Labor Party need to understand that, when it comes to border protection in this country, if you are not going to change your policies, if you are not going to revert to the proven policies of the former Howard government, then nothing changes. Mr Rudd has made it quite clear he is not apologetic for the rollback. He is not apologetic for setting the policy framework in Australia that has now directly contributed to what is widely considered to be the grossest dereliction of duty by a government in our history. Why would you, honestly, go back to him?

The Australian people are not stupid. You can change Ms Gillard next week, you can put in Mr Rudd, but at the end of the day if you are not going to change your policies, if you are not going to get a spine, if you are not going to show some backbone, if you are not going to reintroduce the former proven policies of the Howard government, then, quite frankly, nothing will change.

Going back to Ms Gillard, though, honestly why would you stay with her given her failures? Do you remember, Mr Deputy President, when the Prime Minister was the shadow minister for immigration and the Howard government was going through the process of tightening Australia's border protection laws? It was a very tough thing to do but we on this side like tough policy; we rise to a challenge. So we introduced our former tough border protection policies, which the Australian people know, because we have been consistent since August 2008, when the wind back began, we will do again. But what did Ms Gillard say at this time? Those on the other side say we have catchcries. Ms Gillard was very famous for her catchcry: another boat, another policy failure.

When you want to talk about boats arriving under the former Howard government, these are the statistics. This is from the department's own website; this is not from Senator Michaelia Cash, senator for Western Australia. These are the department's statistics. When we introduced our proven border protection policies, what was the result of them? Every time we stand up and say we are going to reintroduce the proven border protection policies of the Howard government, those on the other side say, 'But you will not stop the boats.' Hold on, because these are the statistics. We introduced the policies and in 2002-03 zero boats arrived. Compare that to when those policies were not in place under the Howard government—and we admit boats arrived under us. We do not resile from it like they do on the other side; we admit it. The fundamental difference between us on this side and those on the other side is that we stand up and we say, 'You are right.' When we got into office, boats were arriving. But we took tough decisions. We said that the No. 1 responsibility of a Commonwealth government is the security of the nation. The No. 1 responsibility of a Commonwealth government is to ensure the security of our borders. So we introduced the Pacific solution.

As I was saying, these are not my statistics. This is not Michaelia Cash making these statistics up. These are the facts. Those on the other side do not like them but it is their department who published these statistics. In 2002-03 zero boats arrived. How can you argue that our policies did not stop the boats when that is a fact? In 2003-04 one boat arrived—one whole boat in an entire year. Contrast that with the situation under the current government. They can snigger all they like on the other side but the Australian people know that under the current Gillard government 100 people are arriving per day. It was one boat in one year in 2003-04. In 2004-05, lo and behold, under the former Howard government we reverted back to zero boats arrived.

What do we have currently under this government? Almost 45,000 people have arrived, and under Ms Gillard herself, the Prime Minister who gave us the reason that she had to execute the former Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, in the dead of night of 24 June 2010. We all remember that night well because the third anniversary is coming up shortly. The reason that was given when they fronted the cameras afterwards and said they had to take out Mr Rudd was that Mr Rudd had failed to solve the border protection policy that he himself had created. It was another boat, another policy failure—under the current Prime Minister's own catchcry. But 589 boats carrying 38,115 people have now arrived since Ms Gillard politically executed Mr Rudd. So much for stopping the boats.

But it is not just the people; it is the financial cost to the Australian people. Those on the other side could not care less about that. They all smile because it is not their money they are spending; it is the Australian taxpayers' money. Like the good socialists they are, unfortunately for them one day they just run out of other people's money and there is nothing else to spend. In the last four years the grotesque border protection failures of that government have cost the Australian people in excess now of $6.6 billion. Under the former Howard government in the year that we lost office this portfolio was costing the Australian people $85 million per year, and in the last four years under those opposite it has cost the Australian taxpayer in excess of $6.6 billion. There is only one political party in this country that is committed to stopping the boats. We have done it before and we will do it again. (Time expired)