Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I wonder what pattern this reflects. The honourable member’s question went to the proportion of the total Australian humanitarian intake taken up by various groups of people arriving in Australia in a given year. I was simply apprising those opposite of the facts and figures concerning the total number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia during the period that they were in office. The figures ranged from 10,000 in 1996, to 15,000 in 2000, to 17,000 in 2001; and, in the last year they were in office, there were some 4,000. Those opposite seem very keen to reflect a particular view of the statistics.

What I have sought to do in my answer is reflect what is happening worldwide for all countries in terms of outflows from Afghanistan, from Iraq and from Sri Lanka. Of all those numbers, when it comes to Sri Lanka, we have had some 600 or so arrive in Australian waters. On top of that, what I have also tried to reflect to those opposite in the answer is that, if you look at the total number of asylum seekers arriving by boat and by other means in Australia under their watch, the challenges that we face these days are by no means unique. These challenges have been faced by governments in the past and they will be faced by governments in the future.

I would suggest to those opposite, as they pursue the Ronaldson doctrine of stereotyping—part of the infamous Ronaldson email entitled ‘Digging dirt’—that, if they are going to continue to engage in these sorts of tactics, they should at least extend to the House the courtesy of framing them within historical fact and statistical reality. The government’s policy on these matters is clear; we still await some clarity in terms of what those opposite offer by way of an alternative.

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