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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (Senator Evans) to questions without notice asked by Senators Fierravanti-Wells, Back and Cash today relating to border protection and to the Tamil Tigers.

Today we had contrived indignation from the minister in relation to the use of the word ‘illegal’ in response to questions asked by Senators Back and Cash. It is all very well when the Prime Minister uses the word. For example, on PM with Mark Colvin, the Prime Minister says, ‘I make absolutely no apology whatsoever for taking a hard line on illegal immigration to Australia.’ So it is all very well for the Prime Minister to use that terminology but, of course, when we use that terminology, there is indeed a different standard. I have to say that is really quite hypocritical.

I wish to pick up on a couple of points in the time available to me. The minister absolutely failed to answer my question in relation to the Indonesian plan. At estimates on 22 October, the Ambassador for People Smuggling Issues said, ‘We haven’t actually sat down with the Indonesians yet to negotiate what this framework will look like or what forms our support will take.’ But, the day after, we get reports in the paper about the so-called $50-plus million plan where Labor will be outsourcing its border protection policy failures to the Indonesians. Today I asked the minister to clarify that and to tell us what the cost is. He gave us a diatribe and avoided answering the question, which makes me think that $50 million is just, in effect, a starting point—