Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. Will the minister outline to the House how the Morrison government is protecting Australian families from the threat posed by dangerous noncitizen criminals through its stable and certain border security plans? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Bonner, who works very hard in his electorate to make sure that he can keep his constituents safe. That's the work of all of those members of the House. We wanted to make sure—and, in fact, we promised at the last election—that we had a plan, that we would do whatever it took to keep Australian safe. We've done that, as the Attorney-General pointed out before, through now 19 tranches of national security legislation, which were opposed by those opposite. There want people in their electorates to believe that they supported them, but they actually watered down or opposed the legislation in each of those instances.

In relation to border protection, we promised that we would clean up Labor's mess—get the kids out of detention that they put there and make sure that we closed detention centres and didn't have people drowning at sea. They opposed us every step of the way, even to this very day. They are still utterly divided on the issue of border protection.

At the last election, we took a plan to the Australian people saying that we would keep them safe by cancelling the visas of noncitizens who had committed offences in our country against Australian citizens. I'm proud of the fact that the coalition under this Prime Minister has cancelled 5,122 visas of criminals who have committed offences in our country. It includes 270 outlaw motorcycle gang members, people who are the biggest distributors of ice and amphetamines in towns across the country. We have cancelled the visas of 225 people who have been convicted of or charged with rape or other sexual offences and 469 people for child sex and child sexual exploitation material offences. Less than a quarter of that number were cancelled under Labor—43 for rape and other sexual offences; and 97 for child sex and child sexual exploitation material offences, compared to our 469.

It doesn't stop there, because, under the Labor government when the Leader of the Opposition sat around the National Security Committee, he was responsible for the cancellation of people who had committed assault in this country on 92 occasions. We have cancelled the visas of 922. I just say to the Australian public: don't look at what the Labor Party tell you at an election; look at what they do when they're in government and what they do when they're in opposition. We had a plan. We made a promise. We are delivering on it. When you look at this Leader of the Opposition, know that he places an each-way bet on every issue. He is weak when it comes to national security, and it continues in relation to every aspect of this country's security. (Time expired)