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

As we on this side know, the benefits of Operation Sovereign Borders and strong border protection policies include an important dividend which was on display last week. That is, of course, the ability of the Australian government and the Australian people to offer to have a one-off increase in our humanitarian intake of 12,000 people for those displaced by the humanitarian crisis in Syria. The only reason that was able to be done was that we had stopped the boats. Through stopping the boats we have been able to offer the one-off increase. If you look at what would have happened under those on the other side, in the last two years of the Rudd-Gillard Labor government we had almost 30,000 people arrive by boat and if they had continued in office we would have already had another 30,000. That would have made it virtually impossible to do what we on this side have done, and that is to open up our arms and say 'welcome' to those from Syria. (Time expired)