Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Evans. With more boats arriving almost daily—and of course we have had our daily one today; another one arrived this morning—how many unauthorised boat arrivals is the government preparing for between now and our next question time in 68 days time? Is it more than 10, more than 50 or more than 100?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for her question. It has been a daily event, though I see the numbers have fallen as the weeks have gone on. But I am cheered by the prospect that it is 68 days before we have another question time—that is something encouraging. What I do know is that the challenge of dealing with unauthorised arrivals will be with Australia for a long time. It has been with us for a long time and it will be with us for a long time. In terms of the numbers of boat arrivals, obviously one cannot predict that. All one can do is continue to maximise our efforts to prevent people departing from other countries in an attempt to enter Australia by unauthorised boat arrival.

We are working closely with our neighbours to try and stop the increase in activity that has arisen largely out of Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. We have a range of measures in place that are trying to deal with those persons and prevent them from departing. Our border security measures remain strong and they remain in place. We have increased the number of patrols. We have increased the resources for border protection and we have kept in place the key measures associated with that border security with the excision of offshore islands, the offshore processing of persons taken to Christmas Island when intercepted and the mandatory detention of all those intercepted. People are detained, they have their health, identity and security checks and then any claims for asylum are processed.

But it is true that, on the current rate, we will probably see this year’s figure as the fourth largest for boat arrivals in any one year. The top three occurred under the Howard government in 1999, 2000 and 2001, when the numbers were much larger. But this remains a long-term, serious public policy challenge.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Given the surge in numbers on Christmas Island, can the minister tell the Senate whether processing times have increased and if so by how much? What assurances can the minister give the Senate that the processing times and appropriate standards will be met, as promised by the Rudd government, with the likely surge in the next 68 days?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can assure the senator not only that standards will be maintained but also that values will be maintained. A very important change we have made is a change in the values in the way we treat people. You can be assured that these standards will be maintained and the values will be maintained. In terms of processing times—and I will get the exact figures for the senator—the standard target is about 90 days. I think it is slightly over 100 days at the moment. I make no apology for that.

I would like the Senate to understand this: the last thing involved in the process is the security check, and it is usually the slowest thing in the process. Our security agents have to become comfortable with the credentials of the person they are dealing with. We will not be cutting corners on that. The processing times may well blow out, but we will be ensuring proper security assessments are made.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. With 55 boats, more than 2,400 unauthorised arrivals, a 42 per cent increase in onshore asylum applications since Labor came to government and the minister’s continued denials of special deals, is it not time that, as the Australian’s Paul Kelly advocated, the government stopped treating Australians like mugs? When will the minister start taking effective action?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, can I indicate that the senator did not fairly represent the figures. She moves from annual figures, to the election of the Rudd government and to August 2008, so I dispute the figures she quoted. They were not fairly represented. But I do note that she again seeks to quote the Australian, but I think it was from weeks ago. Again, we see a little delay between reading the paper and asking the question. I think Mr Kelly generally has a fairly balanced attitude to the challenge faced. He deals with the realities of the public policy challenge when he writes his articles. I do not always agree with him, but he does actually try and deal with the complexities and the challenges, and they are big challenges. It is a complex issue. We are working very hard to get better policy outcomes by engaging with our neighbours. We will continue to work hard to try and ensure a reduction in the number of unauthorised boat arrivals. (Time expired)