Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

What we have all of a sudden is the arrogance and outrage of Senator Hanson-Young because not only has her policy position been exposed as the folly that it is; there is also the not-so-small matter that our policy is working. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is upset because everything that she has built her political career around—faux crocodile tears, the Sea Patrol issues, the dismissal of people drowning at sea and the grotesque accusation from Senator Milne, which was that we stood by and were prepared to watch people drown—has been false. It has been built on a house of cards, on the lie that somehow if we had a more compassionate policy it would stop the boats. That is not true. Our policy is compassionate. It is compassionate because it stops the boats. It takes away the people smugglers' product. It puts back into the Australian government's hands the determination of who should participate in our generous humanitarian refugee program. It puts the people smugglers out of business. If the Australian people are serious about a humanitarian immigration program then they will salute the fact that we have regained control of it. They can see firsthand the dangers of extremists who have really no ideas grounded in reality and the implications of the kooky policies of the Greens, who have made some truly vile suggestions today.

In conclusion, we as a collective in this Senate should be appalled at the death of any individual who is seeking asylum in this country. We should be appalled, and there is no question about it. It is hard. It is very tough on the minister. I know he takes it to heart, as do we all. The simple fact is that it is better to have an orderly immigration program than one in which hundreds, maybe thousands, of people could perish at sea. This is the great tragedy of it. We are doing our best. The Australian people have asked us to go in and fix up the mess that was created by the policy agenda of the previous government, together with the Greens. It is time that we took stock of that. That is why I appreciate the Labor Party saying that the government have taken appropriate steps to inquire into this. I would ask the Greens to reflect on their politicising of a tragic event. (Time expired)