Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Will the minister update the House on how many days it has been since a successful people-smuggling venture has arrived in this country? What impediments exist to the existing continuous successful implementation of the government's strong border protection policies?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for her question and her keen interest in these issues; I know it has always been a very keen interest of the electors of Lindsay. It has been 69 days since there has been a successful people-smuggling venture make it to Australia. But despite the success to date of this operation, it still faces obstacles. And those obstacles sit on that side of the chamber, they sit amongst the Greens and they sit in the other place as they band together. Those obstacles are there.

So miffed are those opposite about the success of this government's border protection policies, and how that has exposed their weakness and their incompetence and their failure in government—as boat after boat arrived, as person after person arrived, as boat after boat sunk—that what they seek to do is adopt the policy of miff. They will try and make it fail. That is what they are trying to do. What they are trying to do is make the government's policies fail. Make it fail.

The Leader of the Opposition has become the chief executive of 'wreck the joint', and not just wreck the joint when it comes to the government's border protection policies but also wreck the joint when it comes to the budget. As a former union official he knows exactly how to do it, he knows exactly how to wreck the joint. He is the chief executive of 'wreck the joint' when it comes to policy in this country.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

'Make it fail' is the objective of that opposition when it comes to this government's policies.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs is warned!

Mr Bowen interjecting—

As is the member for McMahon!

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But unsatisfied with seeking to frustrate us, frustrate our policies, to deny the obvious that our maritime operations are having success and seeking to undermine them, now they have embarked on a new strategy—that is, to attack the people who are implementing our policies. He may be a resident of 'Conrovia' on some other distant planet, as the Minister for Communications advises us from time to time, but it is up to this Leader of the Opposition to call into line the most disgraceful act of Senator Conroy against Lieutenant General Campbell in the Senate last night. He accused him of a political cover up, and this Leader of the Opposition's failure to force an apology from that senator to Lieutenant General Campbell is an absolute disgrace.

I will say there is one member opposite who knew what was the right thing to do last night, and that is the member for Chifley. This is what he said last night: 'I'm not going to dance around it. What he said was wrong'—referring to Senator Conroy—'it shouldn't have been said, not to a serving officer, in that way.' Well maybe the member for Chifley should be able to step up, because this Leader of the Opposition cannot step up when it comes to these matters of border protection.