Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President, I withdraw those comments. Immigration has always been about order and process. Millions of people have come to this country and abided by those processes. They have come here after waiting in queues. People who come to this country understand about queue jumping. They understand what it means to wait in those places for up to 10 or 12 years and be the next person in the queue to come to Australia and then to watch somebody jump you in the queue because they have undertaken an illegal process and paid a people smuggler.

As I go out, particularly to those people who have come to Australia, and speak to people who have come via the front door, they understand. It is interesting: I bet some of those constituents have told those opposite that that is how they strongly feel about this issue. There are many migrants in Australia who feel very strongly about this issue and those opposite have finally, obviously, been told by the focus groups brought to this process to—kicking and screaming—change their position. Having said that, even with the passage of this legislation on offshore processing, the question remains: can the government be trusted to properly implement these changes? Only time will tell.