Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Wong. I refer the minister to the fact that the government's budget in the immigration portfolio for 2012-13 is based on 450 unlawful entrant arrivals per month. I also refer the minister to the fact that in the first five months of this financial year more than 10,000 unlawful entrants have arrived in Australia, more than four times the government's monthly estimates. Given that each new boat costs the Australian taxpayer approximately $12 million, how much more money will the government be required to be appropriate to compensate for the increased arrivals for this financial year?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think some parts of that question are probably more appropriately directed to Senator Lundy, because I note that there were a number of policy assertions in that question. I would make this point: if the opposition are concerned about what has occurred in relation to asylum seeker policies and border protection policies, they should reflect on the fact that they stood in the way of changes in this parliament for months and months and months, because they are not interested in resolving the issue. They are only interested in creating a policy—

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

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. The minister is not being directly relevant to the question asked. The question was specifically in relation to the budget assumptions and whether there would be additional appropriation to deal with the substantial underestimate of refugee arrivals. She has not borne on that question at all. It is entirely within her portfolio. She should be brought to the question.

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on the point of order, once again Senator Brandis focuses on just one element of the question. Senator Wong was quite correct in highlighting that there were a number of broader policy assertions within the question, but she is seeking to answer the relevant components for her portfolio and should be allowed to continue to do so.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister has been going 35 seconds. I believe the minister is addressing the question. The minister has one minute and 25 seconds remaining to address the question.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question does come consequent upon passage of the appropriation bill, which I think passed the chamber yesterday. I think the senator who asked me the question participated, possibly at length, in that debate and asked similar questions of the representing minister at that time. It is the case that the bills appropriate total funding of the figure that the senator just quoted at me—in which case, one wonders why she needed to ask me the question—of $1.675 billion to implement the Houston report for costs associated with IMAs, and the funding in the appropriations is consistent with the update that was handed down in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

I think the $668 million can be broken down to a number of components: an increase in the humanitarian program to 20,000 places per annum, the increase in the family stream of the permanent migration program to 194 places per annum, regional capacity building initiatives to support government and international organisations to strengthen the region's capacity to manage migration, capital costs associated with the regional processing centres, and I can continue in the next supplementary— (Time expired)

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I refer the minister to her answer on 29 October 2012 regarding the estimated monthly arrivals for the 2012-13 financial year. The minister said:

The estimates variation includes the increase in actual arrivals to date, transitioning down to a lower level by the end of 2012-13 and staying there over the forwards.

Given that the number of unlawful arrivals continues to increase, what is the government's definition of 'transitioning down for the purpose of the forward estimates'?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I do stand by that answer, and I make it very clear that the government anticipates that as we implement the Houston panel recommendations in full we should see these arrival rates drop. The Houston panel recommendations include not only the offshore processing on Nauru and Manus Island but the Malaysia transfer arrangements, which, of course, the opposition do not wish to implement. So let us be clear about who is playing politics with this issue. The people who are playing politics with this very complex public policy—

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

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. On the issue of direct relevance, in the supplementary question Senator Cash quoted to the minister some words she had used and asked her to define one of the terms in that quoted statement: what is the government's definition of 'transitioning down'? The question asserted nothing else; it asked nothing else. It asked for the definition of the phrase 'transitioning down'. I ask you to bring the minister to the question.

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on the point of order, once again Senator Brandis is not relying on the full question. She was referring to transitioning towards trending down and a definition of trending down—

Senator Brandis interjecting—

No, you did not read the full question, Senator Brandis, because I wrote the full question down at the time. So either you are suggesting your colleague added some additional words or there is a problem with what is in front of you.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There is no point of order. I believe the minister is answering the question at this stage. The minister has 19 seconds remaining.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, can I ask Senator Collins to table the written-down question that she says she wrote?

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order. Senator Wong, you have 19 seconds remaining.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was assisting the—

Honourable senators interjecting—

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Because you didn't write it down.

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did write it down.

Honourable senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The debate across the chamber is disorderly. I remind senators of that. Senator Wong, continue. You have got 12 seconds.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was assisting the senator with the costs for which there has been an additional appropriation. I said, I think, capital costs associated with regional processing centres and operating costs— (Time expired)

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. In July 2002, there were 1,828 arrivals; in August, 1,969 arrivals; in September, 2,355 arrivals; in October, 2,227; and in the first three weeks of November, 1,767 arrivals. Does the government stand-by its estimate of 450 arrivals per month or does it now concede that that estimate is grossly flawed?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government stands by its budget update in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, including in relation to the revised costs associated with the immigration portfolio. I can say that I think it is clear to anybody watching that those opposite are not interested in an outcome on this. They are only interested in political games.