Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very interested by the admission of the minister that, as the Minister for Resources and Energy, he has the capacity to hand out visas. But thank you very much for your generosity. This minister is clearly one of the most effective and influential ministers in the government. If more than a million to 1½ million people seek to come to Australia, then it is important that we do have an orderly immigration policy—a policy that has integrity, respect, transparency and accountability. For people to be able to jump on boats, to be able to pay people smugglers to come to Australia, to be intercepted and to be taken to Christmas Island or somewhere else—we understand that large numbers are about to be transported to Darwin—and that that enables them to jump the queue, it sends a real message to the world that we do not have a policy of integrity. You have really got to feel for the million to a million-and-a-half people who want to come here legitimately while people who are seeking to come here illegitimately are given preferential treatment.

People smugglers are amongst the worst type of criminals. They place many lives in danger, they prey on the desperation of those people who are needy and they will do almost anything to anyone who wants to come to Australia to seek a better life. It is clear that they are motivated by financial gain and what they can amass for themselves. They are not remotely concerned about the lives of those people they carry as passengers. This is demonstrated by some of the horrid conditions that passengers have had to endure on often unseaworthy boats. When these boats go down at times and lives are lost, one has to ask oneself whether the people smugglers who own these boats are able to claim for insurance on the boats that are lost in the country where those boats are registered and, if they receive funds from the insurance policies, whether they are able to buy new and better boats to transport even more people to Australia.

The people smugglers who are more than willing to breach Australia’s immigration and arrival conditions and legislation have to have the book thrown at them. That is really important. People smugglers show complete disregard for the interests of the people they seek to transport to Australia. We are a compassionate country. Our refugee intake is amongst the highest in the world on a per capita basis. I understand that only Canada exceeds our effort. We are genuinely receptive to the needs of others. We are compassionate. We are sympathetic. However, one of the concerns of people in the Australian community is that the government now does have this open door policy which is encouraging increasing numbers of boats to embark for Australia. People smugglers know that the welcome mat has been put out for them. We now have a super sea highway where the government is drawing people smugglers and unauthorised arrivals like a magnet. Everyone knows that, when the boat arrives at or near Christmas Island or in other Australian territorial waters, it will be towed or escorted to Christmas Island. All the people on board know that they will receive medical attention, they will receive food and they will then be processed on Christmas Island or maybe Darwin and, ultimately, there is a pretty good chance that they will be settled in Australia or another country.

What an incredible green light for people to breach Australia’s laws, to breach Australia’s borders and to come to Australia in this illegitimate way. I hold a series of public community meetings throughout my electorate every year. Last weekend, on 13 March, we had very good attendances at three community barbecues. One was held at Sippy Downs, another was held at Dicky Beach, Caloundra, and the third was held at Kawana Forest. I was impressed with the way that people were genuinely concerned at the arrivals of people in Australia. I think that is a major worry and the government needs to take on board what the community is saying. The community is saying that enough is enough. People who discussed this matter with me at those community meetings were genuinely concerned and they were very worried. They feel that the current Rudd Labor government has completely lost control of this issue.

Since the government softened our border protection laws there has been an increasing number of arrivals and more boats on the sea. There is almost a flotilla on the sea and almost every day we have a boat arrival. Let us look at some of the statistics—and they are really quite scary—since the government watered down our border protection. From August to December 2008 we had seven boats and 179 passengers and crew members. In 2009, 61 boats arrived and there were 2,792 passengers and crew members involved, plus the four on Deliverance Island and another two in an esky. In 2010, so far, we have had 24 boats with 1,191 passengers. That is a total of 92 boats that would not be here if the government had not softened our border protection policies. Those 92 boats brought 4,162 people plus the four on Deliverance Island and the two in an esky. That is a total of 4,168 people. This indicates that the government has given the green light to those people who want to break the laws of Australia—people who are prepared to risk the lives of others who are prepared to pay passage to come to Australia.

Of course, many of these people are not genuine refugees. They might be people who would prefer to live in Australia—and you cannot blame them for that. Australia is a very desirable country in which to live. We have equality of opportunity and anyone has a chance to achieve anything. The only thing that can stop people achieving things in Australia is the individual. There are boundless opportunities, so you can understand why people would want to come from right round the globe to join the Australian family. But if we have a situation where people are jumping the queue, breaking the rules and circumventing our transparency arrangements and laws then clearly what we are doing is sending a green light. The government have brought in a total of 4,168 people since they watered down our border protection policies. That is the number of people who effectively have been brought in because of that watered down policy.

I find this personally concerning. I have lots of people in my electorate who have family members who have applied to come to Australia on spouse visas, parent visas or, in some cases, even business visas. It takes a considerable time for those people to progress sufficiently up the queue to be accepted in accordance with the provisions. Some of them have asked me whether it would be better if they went to Indonesia, bought passage on a boat and arrived into Australia’s territorial waters, where they would then be fast-tracked. I have to say to them that we obviously cannot recommend that course of action. However, the present laws encourage people to circumvent the rules and regulations of Australia. I do not think that is a good thing; I do not think it is healthy. I think it is wrong for the government to water down border protection. I think it sends the wrong message to people smugglers and to the world. The government stands condemned in the eyes of the Australian people. (Time expired)

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