Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator Cash. Can the minister inform the Senate of the government's policy actions which have reduced the number of children in detention?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Reynolds for her question and her keen interest in this important matter.

Compared with September 2013, when the coalition took office, there are now 50 per cent fewer children in detention across the detention network and 75 per cent fewer children in detention on Christmas Island. Delivering these results is something that those on the other side could not do, because it requires strong will and a resolve to take on the people smugglers and stop the boats. This is something that those on the other side have yet to grasp: if you stop the boats, you stop the number of children in detention. Offshore processing, turning back the boats where it is safe and appropriate to do so and working with our regional neighbours to end the scourge of people smuggling have all contributed to this government's policy success.

But we know from statements by the Leader of the Opposition that if those opposite were returned to power they would return to the chaos and tragedy of old, which ultimately would see an increase in the number of children in detention. At the height of Labor's policy failure, July 2013, there were 10,201 people in held detention, including 1,992 children. Our policy successes in getting children out of detention have meant that we have been able to close a number of detention centres, and in particular the family detention facilities in Darwin, Curtin in WA, South Australia and Christmas Island. All those facilities were opened under the former Labor government because of their failed policies. The irony of the position of those opposite, supported by the Greens, is that it was their policies that put children into detention and it is ours that are getting them out.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Will the minister advise the Senate how the government's policies on children in detention compare to previous approaches?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The sole reason we had children in detention was the policies of the former Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor governments, so vocally supported—

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

By the Greens.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is exactly right, by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and the Greens. When the Howard government lost office in 2007, there were no children in detention. Under the former Labor government, however, we saw more than 50,000 people arrive here illegally, including 8,469 children. Under Labor and the Greens, record numbers of children were placed in detention, rising to a record 1,992 in July 2013. In September, when those opposite lost office, there were 1,392 children in held detention. This government's policies have systematically ensured that we have decreased those numbers. We have done it before; we will do it again.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of the barriers to removing children from detention?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As with so many policies that we inherited from those opposite, in terms of arrangements for bridging visas to ensure that we could let children out of detention, they were quite simply inefficient. In fact, they were a blank piece of paper. So what did we on this side do? Instead of just ticking a box, which is what those on the other side would have done, we ensured that we had the appropriate support arrangements in place for families and children so that we could release them into the community with the appropriate support services on visas. Since Mr Morrison's announcement on 19 August 2014, almost 90 per cent of children under 10 and their families who arrived prior to 19 July last year have been released from held detention into the community. These changes represent good policy, common sense and a compassionate response to dealing with children in detention.