Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Will the minister inform the House of the benefits to taxpayers of the success of the government's border protection policies? What is the importance of sending a consistent message on protecting our borders and managing the integrity of our migration program?

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

I thank the member for Braddon for his question. He was elected to this place at the last election because his now constituents know a mess when they see one, and they saw one under the previous government on our borders; and it is our task to clean up that mess. We have been doing that in a consistent fashion and we have been communicating that in a consistent fashion. In fact, it is now 161 days since the last successful people-smuggling venture, and I have heard that some members opposite have been concerned about the monotonous way in which I have been reminding the House about these results. I can report that it does seem to be having an impact with those opposite. In a blinding statement of the obvious yesterday, the shadow minister for immigration said to Ben Fordham on Radio 2GB what he has finally accepted: 'I accept that there hasn't been a venture that has come here since December. And I accept that they are turning back boats.' There he goes. He has not connected the two in any way, shape or form. Later tonight he may well confess and admit that tomorrow is Friday. He could come to that conclusion but he is not going to make any link to the fact that today is Thursday, because those on that side do not understand cause and effect. They do not understand that you cannot spend and spend and spend and not rack up deficit after deficit after deficit and create debts. They have no understanding of the link between spending and deficits. They have no understanding that if you want to stop boats, you have to stop boats. You actually have to turn back boats where it is safe to do so, and they are in complete denial about the cause and effect and about the success of the policies of this government.

Yesterday the shadow minister could not bring himself to acknowledge the success of our turn-back policy. He could not do it. If he cannot acknowledge the success now, if six months of the success of this policy is not enough to convince him, it never will be. That is why they on the other side will never follow through with the policies that have been successful under this government. They will turn back on turn-backs, they will roll over on offshore processing, they will honour the promise of people smugglers, and they will return to the policy of providing permanent visas when it comes to those who have come illegally by boat. I have got some advice for him. If he wants to know how to go forward, don't look to the left down there where the Greens are; don't look to the right over here, where you have two failed immigration ministers. Look this way. Look on this side of the House where successful policies are saving lives and stopping the boats.