Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

What an outrageous contribution, yet again, from that side. They come into this place and try to lecture us about human rights. Let us not forget what happened with 'children overboard'. I know you are very good at trying to rewrite history but the people will judge you, as they have in the past, on your history of human rights and what happened with 'children over board' and with the Tampa. Your policy is one of sink or swim. Not only are you going to turn back the boats but you want to tow them out to sea. What happens then? We on this side of the cham­ber know, as a government that is concerned about the welfare of these refugees. We are concerned about them. Those people are coming here by boat because they are desperate for a new way of life.

Of course we are supporting the Malay­sian solution. It is a test for those opposite who come into this chamber and espouse and lecture on all sorts of issues, including this one, and of what Mr Abbott is going to do. Is he actually going to put the welfare of these refugees and the Australian people above his own political advantage? We know what his position will be on that. He will never do it, because all he is about is—