Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, I thank the honourable member for Tangney for his question. Whether people are supporters or opponents of the government, they would have to concede that the government has sent a very clear message to people smugglers that we do not tolerate people smuggling. Despite the fact that there are some people who have been smuggled, we believe, to Australia recently—and that is being dealt with separately—in an overall sense, the government’s policies, which have been tough policies, have had a substantial impact on people-smuggling operations into Australia.

It is worth the House remembering that in 1999 to 2001, about 12,000 people arrived illegally in Australia by boat. By contrast, in 2005-06, 56 people arrived. This has been possible for a number of reasons. But one of those reasons is the good cooperation we have had from neighbouring countries—obviously from Pacific countries, including Nauru, but also from Indonesia. It reflects the strength of Australia’s relationship with Indonesia that we have been as successful as we have been—although we have not been totally successful; nevertheless, a substantial degree of success has been achieved. There are a number of other factors contributing to this success, and one of them has been the decision by the government to excise some of the islands around the north of Australia from the immigration zone.

The honourable member asks if there are any alternatives. I noticed in the Australian newspaper today that the Leader of the Opposition had apparently called together leading figures in the Labor Party in the context of the 80 or so Sri Lankans and said: ‘Let’s close down on this issue. Let’s not talk about it.’ So the member for Watson has been closed down. They do not want to talk about it because they think the public may get wise to the fact that Labor are weak on people smugglers—and that, of course, is what the Labor Party are worried about.

We all know that the Leader of the Opposition has a policy for every occasion, a policy for every position. The Leader of the Opposition wants to give the impression that, on the one hand, he is tough on border protection. But what is his other point? His other point is that the government is too tough on border protection. That is his point: ‘I’m tough on border protection but the government are tough on border protection and that’s why I’m against them.’ The Leader of the Opposition says that existing Labor policy will remain. Existing Labor policy is to set up a coastguard that sails around the coast of Northern Australia and, if it comes across a boat, to guide that boat into Australia.

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