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

I thank Senator Johnston for the question. Last week marked the 18-month anniversary of the implementation of Operation Sovereign Borders, and can I take this opportunity to thank and praise the men and women of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, who have been at the front line of the delivery of this policy.

At the 2013 election, Australians voted overwhelmingly for the implementation of the Abbott government but also for the implementation of strong border protection policies, which, as we know, were denied to them for six years under the former Rudd and Gillard Labor governments. Australians can now judge this government on the basis of the following statistics. Since the implementation of the full suite of Operation Sovereign Borders, which, I remind senators, includes the option of tow-backs where it is safe to do so, there has been one illegal boat arrival in Australia—just one. Let's compare that with the record of the last 18 months of the former Rudd and Gillard governments. In 18 months, the Australian public endured a staggering 534 boat arrivals with 35,000 illegal arrivals on board. And that is just the last 18 months of the—