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

The coalition government will not weaken Australia's border protection measures. Senators will recall the tragic consequences of the last time the Australian Greens dictated border policy in this country, where 1,200 men, women and children drowned at sea and 8,000 children were placed in detention. No-one would be on Manus Island or Nauru if it were not for the disastrous policies of the Greens. If Senator McKim truly cared about the welfare of those on Manus and Nauru, he would get behind the government's US resettlement arrangement and stop counselling asylum seekers to act against their own best interests.