Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to stand today in support of this urgency motion brought by Senator Scarr. As Senator McGrath was just outlining, this is ultimately just about the Senate calling upon the Prime Minister to get real, to get serious, to actually put his heart into Operation Sovereign Borders. We know, based on the actions, based on the budget allocations, based on what we're seeing in the operations, that this Prime Minister is not committed fully to Operation Sovereign Borders.

It really hasn't taken the Labor government too long to start failing on border security, has it? It was almost predictable form for the Labor government, and this Prime Minister, who was a senior minister in the last failed government, when it came to border security. And we're seeing now the creaks and the cracks in the doors that are starting to open because this government doesn't take it seriously. Their heart is not in it. Their heart is not in Operation Sovereign Borders. Otherwise we wouldn't see the cuts that are there—to budget, to flights, to surveillance.

In my home state of Western Australia—and it's good to see Senator Smith here—we know that our state of course is a very large state and the coastline is enormous. And the Prime Minister should know, because whenever he flies across to Western Australia, in his Airbus, he knows he has to travel for a very long time, and then when he refuels his plane and heads on up north he knows , when he looks out the window, that it's a long time, that several hours go by. As he looks out the right-hand side of his Airbus, he'll see that he's still got the Western Australian coast on his wing, because it is a very long coastline. Therefore, it requires a significant investment in surveillance, in air-flight hours, to survey the area.

But because of the reduction in budget, because of the reduction in operational hours for those flights that are going up and down there, we've seen some arrivals, and this Prime Minister is the only one who is to blame. Prime Minister Albanese's heart is not in Operation Sovereign Borders. The Albanese government dismantled the coalition's Operation Sovereign Borders after the 2022 election by removing the temporary protection visas. That's what they did: they removed them.

And just recently, on 16 February, in our home state of Western Australia, in the northern Kimberley, we saw illegal boat arrivals simply land onshore and begin wandering around the town site of Beagle Bay. Now, I commend the community of Beagle Bay. They made sure these arrivals were watered, fed and cared for while the police were called to come, and it took some time before they arrived. They did what they needed to do as good citizens, but the government didn't do what it needed to do to ensure that there was surveillance to make sure that that boat never arrived on that shore. And we don't know the character of the people or what could have happened if people who had malfeasance in mind had arrived. That community was unprotected. It's a beautiful part of the world, but it is a serious issue.

But it is hardly surprising that this government is failing in this area. Maritime patrols and aerial surveillance have dropped under this government's watch. These are the hours that I'm talking about here. There was a 20.7 per cent decrease in aerial flying hours in 2022-23 compared to that of the previous year and a 12.2 per cent fall in maritime patrol days in 2022-23 compared to the previous year. The people on the other side stand up here in this place and say: 'There's no change. It's all the same. It's exactly as the previous government was doing.' But your data doesn't back that up. The evidence is clear. It's a big coastline, as I pointed out. You need aircraft to fly over it. You need boats out there to go past it because it's so easy. It shouldn't be easy if you're committed to it, but, because your heart's not in it, it seems like it's a sieve that's leaking. You've got to get serious, government, because it actually matters to Australian security.