George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much indeed, Senator Wong, for that question. Senator Wong, we do not comment on operational matters, as you know. In fact, Senator Wong, evidently you are not familiar with Mr Shorten's train wreck of a press conference about 45 minutes ago, when he was asked this very question. He was asked this very question whether the Labor Party, when it was in government, paid people smugglers. Do you know what Mr Shorten had to say? Mr Shorten said, 'Well, we don't comment on operational matters.' So, Senator Wong, I suggest that the next time you prepare for question time, you have a glance at what your leader has said in the hour before question time.

Of course, we know that the Labor Party paid money to people smugglers. We know $500 million worth of money went into the coffers of people smugglers, who charged a fee of approximately $10,000 per passage to 50,000 illegal entrants into Australia—