Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The senator seeks to repeat the catchcry of ‘soft on boarder security’, but that is all the Liberal Party have got. There is no policy and half the time they do not oppose the measures that we recommend. I remind those opposite that under the Howard government 5,516 unauthorised arrivals arrived in 2001; 2,900 in 2000; and 3,700 in 1999. Were you soft on boarder security then? No. What you were dealing with was the challenge of a surge that occurred at that time, just as earlier governments such as the Fraser government had to deal with the surge of Chinese arrivals in its period. These things occur as a result of people who have been forced out of their home countries seeking asylum. What we have seen over the years is that these figures go up and down as people seek to find safety. I am afraid that will continue— (Time expired)