Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Carr. I refer to the statement by the Western Australian Labor opposition leader, Eric Ripper, that state Labor opposes the proposal to house 1,500 male asylum seekers at a disused Army barrack at Northam and to the statement of the President of Northam Shire Council, Steven Pollard, that he was only made aware of the Northam centre minutes before the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, and Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, spoke to the minister and made the announcement. Does the minister believe that presiding over a rushed decision, which does not even have the support of the WA state Labor Party, is a way to fix the government’s border protection mess?