Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

In stopping the boats, we as a government are warming up to take our full complement of refugees in an orderly fashion from the refugee camps around the world. As someone who has visited some of these camps in relatively recent times, I can assure you that they ask me the question: why is it that the then government allowed all these queue jumpers to come in when we have been waiting patiently for over 12 years, sometimes 15 years, for placement and they allowed queue jumpers who paid criminals to jump the queue? I see no sense of social justice whatsoever in giving priority to those who bypass safe haven after safe haven after safe haven and then pay a criminal to get them to the front of the queue. I would prefer to look after those who neither have the moral compass nor the financial capacity to queue jump. (Time expired)