Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Tell the truth? Those are the body counts! Those are the body counts, Mr Deputy President. But when you go to speak to those naval officers, as we had the opportunity to do—I asked them: 'Was 1200 the real number?' They said: 'They are the ones we know about, Senator Back.' I had Senator McEwen with me on that occasion when we travelled up to Darwin for that inquiry.

As the Attorney-General has told us, US $500 million was poured into the pockets of people smugglers as a result of the failure of the last government. There were 50,000 illegal arrivals, who were put on more than 800 leaking vessels, as the result of the encouragement given to them by your government. Then, of course, we come to the commentary by Senator Collins on the Attorney-General with regard to Mr Bret Walker. I have had the opportunity to read some of the final report of Mr Bret Walker, and probably the most accurate thing that Senator O'Neill quoted was that Mr Walker seems to have changed his mind; it is his opinion now.