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

Senator Hanson-Young, for reasons that are perhaps too obvious to state, I am not going to speculate on what the High Court might decide tomorrow, what its reasons for any decision that it makes might be and what the implications of any such decision might be. We will have to wait until tomorrow morning when Their Honours deliver their judgement, and the government will consider it carefully.

Senator Hanson-Young, you raised the issue of children in detention. There are fewer than 100 children in detention today. Under the previous government, under policies that you supported, that number peaked at 1,992. There were 1,992 children in detention 2½ years ago, and this government, through its successful border protection policies and the release of those children and their families into the community, has reduced that number from almost 2,000 to fewer than 100. The history of this government's policy in this area has been the history of releasing children from detention, reducing the number from almost 2,000 to fewer than 100.