Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Rudd was so conscious that the Australian people were seriously upset with the mess that Labor had created on our borders, Labor were advertising to or supposedly targeting potential people smugglers and potential illegal immigrants in Australia about their strong offshore processing arrangements. That was in Australia, where there are apparently a lot of potential people smugglers and potential illegal arrivals.

The truth is that this is the beginning. This is Bill Shorten showing to the Australian people what he would do if he were elected at the next election. This is showing that he doesn't care about keeping Australia's border safe and secure. If given the opportunity, he would go back to the discredited and failed border protection policies of Labor in the past. Our very strong message to the Australian people is: don't risk it. And our very strong urging to the Senate is that this is a very sensible motion that has been moved by Senator Bernardi which deserves support. The Senate shouldn't become captive to Mr Shorten's tactical games that are putting our national security and our border protection arrangements at risk. These sorts of bills should be debated in the proper fashion, as they usually are, and that is what the Bernardi motion is seeking to achieve.