Cory Bernardi (SA, Australian Conservatives) Share this | Hansard source

Senator O'Neill says I assisted them in delaying the passage of that bill, and I did. I did, because it was wrong. And you know what? The supercilious and the sanctimonious on the other side need to acknowledge that because their own opposition have amended it. They realised there were flaws and failings in it, and they've amended it to try to put lipstick on a pig. And this is a pig of a policy, there's no doubt about it.

Last year in this Senate, when I said they would be allowing paedophiles, domestic violence proponents, rapists into the country, they dismissed it. They said: 'We don't care. We've got to be compassionate.' And now they've put in a modest little amendment saying, 'If you've been convicted of these offences, you won't be allowed in.' The problem is that those who are committing these heinous crimes in detention and on Nauru haven't been convicted. They haven't been convicted of it. Nor have those that have been doing it overseas, as Senator Cormann said, in countries where raping a woman is not such a big deal or where paedophilia is accepted. And these people on the other side are prepared to dismantle those protections because they want to get a cheap political win.

And if you want to talk about random politics, these people—the Labor Party, the Greens, those on the crossbench—are gambling with the protection and safety of innocents. Not the innocents that Senator Di Natale pretends to stick up for, not the so-called innocents who pay people smugglers to enter a country illegally, who are prepared to threaten or coerce or damage others in order to get a free ride to Australia, but the innocents that are the Australian people.

When Labor dismantled Australia's most successful policy on border protection, it cost the Australian people billions of dollars. More than that, it cost the Australian people their safety and security. You can have a look at the refugees that you, on the other side, let into the country that have damaged Australia. You've damaged Australia's welfare system. You've damaged Australia's national security. Twelve hundred people, at a minimum, lost their lives at sea because of policies that you and the Greens enacted. You should be ashamed of yourselves, because now you've opened the door once again to this insidious trade.

In the greatest act of sophistry I've ever seen, the Labor opposition and the Greens are saying, 'It won't matter; this is a one-off event and it's only to get some people who are in need off Nauru right now.' Well, Senator Di Natale says that doctors are going to release hundreds of people off Nauru. He didn't say it would be under spurious conditions, but I can guarantee it would be under spurious conditions. If you haven't got a mental health condition—or a claim to have one—on Nauru now, if this bill passes, it will mean you are actually mentally ill, because you're not gaming the system enough.

What are these people going to do when the people-smuggling trade resurrects itself and there are boatloads of people and they're being put on Nauru? How long before you capitulate again and allow another several hundreds or thousands of people to come to this country to rip off the system? You should be ashamed of yourselves. After years of defending our borders and standing at one with the government, you are now prepared to dismantle what we've got because you're worshipping at the altar of Green nonsense. It is just extraordinary. You are prepared to sacrifice Australia's national security and national prosperity. You are prepared to sacrifice Australia's taxpayers' funds because you have this ideological obsession that you should be repatriating people to this country.

We all know what is going to happen. If you bring someone to this country, all the lawyers, all the pro bono people, will stand up and tie this up in the courts, and you will effectively be granting them permanent residence again. It is a shame. It is an indictment. Use some common sense—bring it back to this country, because it's desperately needed.