Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As this has obviously turned into a debate—contrary to the rules—could I enter it, for a minute! The Greens continue to try to find fault with a policy that has actually stopped the boats. The things they complain about are, principally, matters that were introduced under the Labor government. At the time, the Greens never raised a whimper about the Labor government introducing Manus and Nauru. They never raised a whimper about children in detention, in those days. Now there is a different government, they continue to set up these useless committees that never go anywhere. There are already two committees looking at the same thing, in relation to offshore detention—set up by Labor, I might add—and this will be another waste of the Senate's resources.