Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

In particular, I want to discuss the Migration Legislation Amendment (Regional Processing Cohort) Bill 2016 which the ninth report considered. Reports in the media last night and today that government members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights are not supportive of the bill are completely false, and I think they demonstrate an appalling lack of understanding by those who have reported these stories of the role of scrutiny committees.

But first let us remind ourselves of why we are taking these measures. It is not as those opposite and some in the media like to portray us—that we are cold-hearted right wing ideologues. In fact, it is quite the opposite. We did not open the regional processing centres, but we have taken and we continue to take responsibility for closing them down. Under the Labor government, with the support of the Greens, the people smugglers were put back into business and they were kept in business over the life of the last Labor government. Sadly, however, their business is the trade in and exportation of some of the world's most vulnerable people.

What was the result when Labor and the Greens put people smugglers back into business? The facts are very clear. Fifty thousand illegal maritime arrivals attempted to come to Australia in over 800 boats. Seventeen onshore detention centres and two offshore regional processing centres were opened by Labor, and still they could not cope with the absolute flood of illegal arrivals.

Under the previous governments and under their policies, over 8000 children were placed in detention, including in an offshore regional processing centre that was set up too quickly and was ill-equipped to handle families and, in particular, children. These were not places for children at that time. Most shockingly of all to me, we know that it least 1200 people died the most heinous deaths at sea as a direct result of the policies of the government of the day. The lives of all 50,000 men women and children were put in harm's way. Many of them—those who did not die at sea and who were returned—lost their life savings because, unsurprisingly, people smugglers do not give refunds.

There is no simple or straightforward solution to dealing with the cruel and insidious crime of people smuggling. If there were, governments would have taken them many years ago. At the heart of this cruel and insidious trade—and I learnt of this when I was in government as a chief of staff dealing with this in 2001-03—people smugglers do not respect our compassion; they see it as a weakness to exploit and to make money on. What they are exploiting? They are exploiting people. What does compassion look like? Firstly to me there is absolutely nothing compassionate about deliberately allowing people to die and keep dying at sea. There is nothing compassionate to me about providing false hope to those who have paid people smugglers that one day they will have the means of entry into Australia. That is the product the people smugglers keep trying to sell them. As we saw in a recent estimates hearing, there is absolutely nothing compassionate about the vilification by some people in this chamber and in Hansard of our brave Australian men and women—in border protection, law and enforcement and defence—who protect our borders. Those men and women have suffered great emotional distress at having to deal with the dead and dying at sea as a direct consequence of government policy. That to me is not compassion.

How successful were they under the Howard government? Clearly they worked, but how have they worked this time under this government? It is now been more than 830 days since a successful illegal boat arrival in Australia. This government has closed all of Labor's 17 detention centres, and all children have been removed from detention. Most importantly, there have been no more drownings at sea of men women or children.