George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

( Senator McKim, not a single boat, not a single people-smuggling venture, has succeeded since the coalition government began Operation Sovereign Borders in late 2013. Not a single vessel has come to Australia's shores since Operation Sovereign Borders began. In the previous 5½ years there were 800. That is not a single boat in the last three years, and 800 in the previous 5½ years. Senator McKim, I regard that as a successful policy.

In the previous 5½ years, prior to the election of the coalition government in 2013, there were at least 1,200 people—men, women and children—who drowned at sea, and those are only the ones we know about. There was an uncountable number. There could have been many more, but at least 1,200 we know about drowned at sea. Since Operation Sovereign Borders, not one person has drowned at sea, so I regard that as a successful policy, too. When the coalition government was elected we found that there were almost 2,000 children in detention on the Australian mainland—almost 2,000—and today there is not one, so I regard that as a successful policy too. And I regard as a successful policy the fact that, as a result of Operation Sovereign Borders, we have been able to close 17 detention centres.

You ask about people on Manus and Nauru. Might I remind you, Senator McKim, although you already know this, that every last one of them was put there by the Labor government of Mr Kevin Rudd.