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

It is not a coastguard, is it, Mr Speaker? It is a ‘coast guide’ and no doubt, as the Minister for Defence said, a unionised coast guide. The Labor Party wants to repeal the government’s legislation on excision. The Labor Party wants to repeal that policy. Indeed, it will be recalled that, the last time excision legislation was put to the parliament, the Labor Party voted against it.

The opposition leader had a doorstop—the opposition leader loves being in the media; he really likes being the opposition leader because he can be in the media every day—on 23 February and said, ‘Labor’s policy is that if people are interdicted on the high seas then those vessels should be turned around.’ I heard that. Wow! They should be turned around. What is interesting—talking about turning around—is that he did a full 180-degree turnaround himself in the next sentence. He said, ‘If people are on the high seas,’ but then indicated that, if they are going to seek asylum in Australia, they should be taken to Christmas Island for processing. So they are turned around and brought to Christmas Island for processing. Turn them around twice, I suppose, and then they go to Christmas Island for processing. This is the point: the Labor Party is trying to be all things to all people. The Leader of the Opposition has never taken a strong stance in support of any single issue and stuck with it. He just hunts around for the populist position and, of course, the appeasing position for the various factions within the Labor Party.

It is a simple point: you can talk about politics on these issues but, at the end of the day, the serious policy issue is to make sure that we deal with people smuggling. If you do not deal with people smuggling then people will undertake dangerous journeys; they will take risks. People smugglers will drive people into this situation and make money out of it. And, talking about making money, billions of dollars a year are made out of people smuggling. It is in this country’s interest to make sure that we crack down on people smuggling, that we deal with it and that we do it in the most humane way we can but do it in a tough way. The Leader of the Opposition—let’s face it—is weak on border security issues and is frightened that he might be exposed. Well, he is exposed.

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