Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

There were zero children who had arrived by boat. In the first year of Labor, the number went from 35 up to 342. In 2010 it went up to 1,251. In 2012 it went to 2,500. In 2013, under Labor, the number went to 3,523. In 2014—the first period under which this government had responsibility—it went down to 50. In 2015, so far, that number is at zero. If you want to keep children out of detention, you stop the boats, because the worst possible thing that could happen is that the boats start again and the children start to flow back into our detention centres. It is very interesting, when you have a look at a contrast in relation to policies in this very important area.

Ms Burke interjecting—

See this speech in context