Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

Of course, I rely upon agencies, finance agencies and security agencies, as do all governments, to make assessments. What we have made clear is that, if you look at the outer years of the forward estimates, you will see that they are usually considered using a longer period of time of averaging. It is really important to note that, notwithstanding how challenging this area of public policy is, the reason why we have to be guarded and mindful of assuming inclinations—that is, an incline for example in irregular maritime arrivals—is that, between 2010 and 2011, the number of boats actually halved.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 20:06 to 20:39

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