James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition government will not weaken Australia's strong border protection measures. Offshore processing, turnbacks and temporary protection visas have all been critical to the success of Operation Sovereign Borders. It has now been more than three years since the last successful people-smuggling venture. This motion demonstrates that the Greens have learned nothing from their past mistakes. When Labor and the Greens weakened Australia's borders, at least 1,200 men, women and children lost their lives at sea and 8,000 children were detained. It was a catastrophic moral failing. The coalition government cannot allow this to happen again. Our strong and consistent border protection policies will not change.