Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, my question is to the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator Cash. Can the minister confirm the number of staff who will lose their jobs within her department and portfolio agencies due to the government's freeze on renewal of non-ongoing contracts?

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

I do not have that information on me, Senator Carr, but I will attempt to get a brief for you and provide it.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Carr is entitled to be heard in silence. If you want to debate the issue, debate it after three o'clock, but Senator Carr will be heard in silence.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister confirm that according to the Australian Public Service Commission, of the 14,273 non-ongoing staff employed in the Australian Public Service, almost 1,000 are employed in Customs, border protection and immigration? Will staff cuts of this dimension compromise front-line immigration and border protection services?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Answer no.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You have to tell her that?

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's silence over here!

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I know there is silence on my left; I am waiting for my right to be silent so that Senator Cash can be heard.

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

In relation to the senator's question, the answer is clearly no. However, I will remind the senator of the exact extent of Labor's failures and how they compromised Australia's border security. Let us talk about immigration: 50,000 illegal arrivals to this country; over 1,000 confirmed deaths at sea; a budget blow-out in excess of $11 billion. If you want to talk about the compromising of a portfolio, you need look no further than those on the opposite side.

You want to talk about compromising our Customs facility? What did the former government do to compromise Customs? They cut 700 staff from Customs when they were in office—700! They cut $420 million from the Customs budget. (Time expired)

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. I would ask the minister quite simply: how can you claim to be protecting Australia's border when you are stripping 1,000 people from the department and the agencies associated with it—a vital resource that they actually need to do the job properly?

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

We are protecting Australian borders. There has been a 75 per cent reduction in the number of illegal boat arrivals to this country in the 51 days since we took office. Unlike those on the other side who went into business with the people smugglers, we will put them out of business.

The other side may not like the answers that I am going to stand up here and give, but I can tell you that we are acting more appropriately than any other government—unless of course you want to talk about the former Howard government, which, when we left office in 2007, had four people in immigration detention and none of them had arrived illegally by boat. The legacy caseload that we have now picked up is in excess of 50,000 arrivals. So if you want to talk about securing Australian borders, we are the government that gets to do that. (Time expired)