Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. Of course, I understand that Australians feel a sense of discomfort, disquiet and even anxiety when they see boats intercepted at sea and asylum seekers taken to Christmas Island and potentially other locations for processing. It does make people anxious; I understand that. They look to the government to make sure that we are managing these questions, to make sure we are understanding the full complexity of these questions and to make sure that we are protecting the nation’s borders.

I have a copy of the press release that the member refers to, which I issued as shadow minister in 2003 so it was quite some time ago. But if one looks at the content of the press release, as opposed to just the headline, it indicates that it was my view in opposition that, in order to deal with questions of asylum seekers and refugees, we needed strong, regional engagement with our neighbours, particularly Indonesia. I still believe that. If we look at the content of the press release, as opposed to the title of it, it was also indicating that I thought it was appropriate that there be additional naval assets protecting our border. And guess what? Under this government we have more assets patrolling our border, more than ever before under any other government. What I would say—

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