Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

There are a multitude of dividends that a government can deliver to the Australian people when you have the resolve to put in place strong border protection policies. Under this government, we have saved $283 million from closing the detention facilities that were not only opened by those on the other side but, quite frankly, were overflowing because of the number of people arriving here.

There are 600 fewer children in detention today under this government than when this government came to power. That is a commitment to getting children out of detention. Could I also refer Senator Reynolds to the report of the International Organization for Migration, entitled Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost during Migration, which confirms that under the former government in excess of 1,200 people died at sea. Under this government in 2014 not one life has been lost.