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

I thank Senator Muir for some notice of the question. In commencing my answer, could I again thank the crossbenchers for the constructive way in which they did engage with the government in relation to the passage of the Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload Bill in December 2014. Can I say—in particular to Senator Muir, but also to the crossbenchers—you achieved more in one day in relation to the release of children in detention than Senator Hanson-Young and Labor have achieved in their entire careers. So well done. I think that it is a great shame that we had so many children in detention because of the policies of the former government. In fact, in July 2013—at the height of Labor's policy failure—there were 1,992 children in detention.

In relation to Senator Muir's question: Senator Muir, I confirm with you that all children accommodated on Christmas Island were transferred to the mainland, consistent with the government's commitment following the passage of the legislation. We said that we would do it before Christmas. We indeed did do that by 20 December.

In relation to the status of the children, I am advised that all but three of those children have now been approved for placement in the community and are in the process of moving to their new accommodation. Certainly, in releasing the children, the government has a duty of care, and we take this duty of care very seriously. As such, one of the things that we seek to do is to ensure that we have adequate support and care mechanisms in place to ensure that those families are able to settle into the community. But, again, I confirm with Senator Muir that we adhere to our agreement.