Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

They said it could not be done—absolutely. They said it could not be done, and we have proved them incorrect. What we have done on this side of the chamber is stop the boats. We have stopped the 50,000 people that came here under the former government's policies from coming to Australia. We have also stopped the deaths at sea—almost 1200 people drowned at sea under the policies of the former government.

Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of this government has been getting children out of detention. Do you remember how many children arrived under the former government? In excess of 8400 children. In July 2013, 1992 children were in detention. Imagine my surprise, colleagues, when last week there was a small protest outside of my office—people protesting children in detention. They delivered teddy bears to my office. Imagine my surprise, though, when Senator Lines from Labor turned up at my office with a teddy bear! A senator from that side of the chamber that was responsible for putting children into detention came to my office and protested about this government's stance on getting children out of detention. Senator Lines, does your hypocrisy know no bounds?