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

I thank the member very much for his question. I was not aware he was going to include all of that in his preamble! He is going to attend, I understand, the Rotary carols at North Ryde Common, which is the second largest carols event in Sydney, expecting 15,000 attendees. So, well done, Member for Bennelong. He is a great local member.

As every Australian knows, over Christmas there will be 3½ million border crossings and over three million cargo consignments. It is a very busy period for the Australian Border Force staff, and they do great work on a daily basis to keep our country safe. But there is a problem, because I understand that, even though there is going to be an increase of Border staff to cope with the increased numbers, particularly at international airports, the CPSU, who are no friend of families this Christmas, are planning on industrial action to target cargo and freight, including ports, airfreight terminals and international mail centres.

See this speech in context