Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

So she was not claiming that boats sinking at sea were the gift that that kept on giving but that it was the government's policy that was the infamous gift. The slip of the tongue remains emblematic of the Liberal-National coalition's willingness to use this humanitarian issue purely as a political plaything.

While in opposition, those opposite talked tough across the country, shouting from the rooftops whenever a boat carrying people seeking asylum arrived. The now Prime Minister stood in front of billboards across the country that were used to highlight the number of boat arrivals over a given period and were solely about politics and about demonising those who were seeking to make a better life for themselves and were never at all about trying to work through the problems in a collaborative manner. It was their way or no way.

Of course, in the latter stages of the Labor government, we introduced a policy of processing people seeking asylum offshore on Nauru and Manus Island. It is this policy that is credited as slowing boat arrivals.

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—