Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have got no problem—we will go get the Hansard and I will remind you. I have your greatest speeches on CD, mate, in my office, playing around the clock! The member for Fowler—I was here and I remember this debate very clearly—said that there was the potential that we may send someone who was gay back from Australia to their death. All these examples were provided—and in preparing this speech I have checked a few things, member for Fraser, including your contribution—and the Labor Party tried to suggest there was a problem that needed to be solved.

But, of course, they never made the case—just as they have not made a case here today—that this administrative regime would be superior to the long practice of ministerial discretion, used in many jurisdictions around the world, and we have not heard one today. We know that it is contributing to the problem. It is adding to the products that people smugglers can sell around the world. This is a serious concern. This legislation is not something we are doing lightly. We warned the last government so many times about so many things, and this was one of them—that, by removing ministerial discretion and putting inflexibility into the system, more legal avenues and more chances would open up not for genuine refugees to apply but for people smugglers to offer product to people who were not genuine refugees.

That is why we have only seen 87 cases, a particularly low number. The member for Corio says, 'Well, this is only a small matter; it's only 87 people.' He is exactly right about that. That is why we need to go back to ministerial discretion. We need to do that because, just for the sake of 87 people—people who would get protection from Australia anyway under decent ministers on both sides of this House, who would never violate international conventions and requirements—we have given the people smugglers a big leg-up.

Labor need to understand that they cannot stand in the way of solutions to the problem that we are facing. The Australian people elected this government with a mandate to stop the boats. They have given us a mandate to stop the people smugglers. Labor need to understand that this is organised crime. It is the most serious organised crime racket in our region. We need to shut it down. We need to change our systems and processes to take into account the fact that it is sophisticated organised crime, constantly adapting to our changes in law. The people smugglers had the Labor Party's measure when Labor were in government. The people smugglers knew every change and every nuance, and they knew nothing would be done to stop their trade.

A new government is here. It has been elected with a mandate to do this. We warned about this in opposition. The government's warnings and fears, even while they were in government, about us somehow bringing in a brutal regime were unfounded and unreasonable. I can tell you that Australia will always meet its international obligations in relation to these very serious conventions. This government will not resile from the task of stopping people smugglers at the same time.

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