Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Continuing on from where Senator Sheldon was, in taking note of similar questions I'll say I was really impressed by the indignation shown by the senator in his speeches. I was really impressed by his ability to bring up past governments and their actions and to use words. But the words of the Labor government are like a Sunday cricketer who goes out and gets bowled for a zack and comes home and hits socials and says, 'Scored a ton!' Their words don't match their actions. They don't in so many things, and they don't here. We hear the words, 'The mission stays the same,' but what about the tools to complete the mission? How are they going? What's under consideration there? And that's how we use our words cleverly in this game. The mission stays the same. But can we do it?

Let's look at what they've done here. Three times today the opportunity was given to the government to talk about how the tools will stay the same to complete the mission and how TPVs, temporary protection visas, will not change and there is no consideration given to them changing—a key element in the deterrence of people smugglers. None of those chances were taken—not one. If you want to talk about who's trying to attract and encourage the people smugglers, why not take the chance—if, as we hear, this bipartisanship on this policy is so strong—to say, 'Yes, that was a great thing that the previous governments did; that will not be changing.' They had three chances today; none of them were taken.

We've talked about the 149 noncitizens who were released by a High Court ruling—and I agree with that, and we agree with that. We've talked about these dangerous criminals—murderers, rapists and robbers. How many have you applied to be put back into custody? You were given a chance to say how many: 'We've done it for one'—or two or three or four. You would not take the chance. So you stand here being indignant. You bring up past MPs. The past MP that matters is John Howard, the past PM: 'We will determine who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.' That is the core of our national policy. And what we want to see is the tools and the actions and the decisions of government that stay to support that—nothing more than that.

But what we see is a 'tough on borders' rhetoric and a 'soft on borders' action. It is like everything this government does. No matter what is happening with our borders, we're talking about people here and the tragedy of all those lives lost at sea under a Labor government: all those families, all those children lost at sea because they lowered the borders. It's the same now. Look at the illegal vape operations that are happening. They say: 'We're tough on vapes. We're cracking down.' But they are creating a business model for criminals there too—'but we are tough on it'. It is always the same: tweet tough; act soft. The Australian people deserve better than that. They need consistency in word and in action, and they are not getting it from here.

Today we asked if the same policies are involved and we get told about the mission. We ask if action has been taken. 'We don't comment.' We ask if we have taken any court responses. They don't answer the question. When you look into the microscope at the promises, when you look into the microscope at the claims and you look at the actions of what's happening, it's 'best endeavours, no care'. These are our borders. The people who come here need to be safe and they need to be people we want to have here. They need to be people that integrate with our society, that want to be Australians, that want a better life. And for everyone who does it illegally, somewhere there is a refugee in a camp that won't be taken. There are already enough problems in the world for people who want to be here and do it the right way.

'We're not confirming here'. 'We don't answer.' 'We have had at least 12 boats come.' 'We're not answering.' Have we had at least 311 people come? There is no confirmation of this because we can't scrutinise it for the Australian people to see how it's going. These criminals who bring the boat people here—they are nothing more than criminals; they are bad people—are looking for weaknesses all of the time to exploit others, to exploit their clients, to exploit the very poorest people seeking trouble. They need to know that you will stand up and say: 'TPVs will stay. Everything that supports this policy that saves lives on oceans will stay.' Today you had the chance; today you didn't take that chance. Our borders are weaker for the answers that were not given.