Question to Peter Dutton MP, Minister for Immigration and Border Security

National Security

Mr HAWKE (Mitchell) (14:20): My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. I remind the minister of the recent arrest of two men on terrorism charges in Sydney this week. Minister, when did the men arrive in Australia, and what pressures were our security agencies under at the time they arrived?

Honourable members interjecting—

The SPEAKER: I call the honourable Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, and there will be silence for the answer.

Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) (14:20): I thank the honourable member for his question and his significant interest in relation to national security matters.

Mr Perrett interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The member for Moreton!

Mr Perrett interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The member for Moreton will remove himself under 94(a).

The member for Moreton then left the chamber.

Mr DUTTON: The advice that I have received in relation to these two particular individuals is that one arrived in Australia in 2009 and one arrived in Australia in 2012. On the advice provided to me, one of those arrived on improperly documented air travel, on fraudulent documents, and that matter is being investigated as a matter of urgency. But it is important for all of us to understand the pressure that our security agencies were under at the time.

The fact is that, when John Howard left government in 2007, there were four people in detention, including no children. That is a very important fact for the Australian public to remember, and yet, over the course of the next seven years—

Mr Marles: A point of order, Madam Speaker—

The SPEAKER: Is what?

Mr Marles: Madam Speaker, my point of order—

The SPEAKER: Is?

Mr Marles: is on the grounds of low-rent grubbiness. If he wants to walk down this path—

The SPEAKER: The member for Corio will resume his seat!

Mr Marles interjecting—

The SPEAKER: Resume his seat!

Mr Marles interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The member will remove himself under 94(a).

The member for Corio then left the chamber.

The SPEAKER: I am fully aware of the fact that it is Thursday and many people like an early plane. That could include the member for Corio. And if anyone wants to join him I can make sure that they can get that early plane. I call the honourable the minister.

Mr DUTTON: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Just to go through the facts, to explain them to the Australian public: when Labor was elected in 2007, they inherited from the Howard government a situation where four people were in detention, and none of those people were children. That is the first point to make. The second point, which the Labor Party do not like—and we saw the demonstration of that before—is this fact: over the course of the Labor government, having been elected in 2007, 50,000 people arrived on 800 boats. Our intelligence agencies were pushed to the limit and indeed beyond. This is a very, very important fact, because at the same time, Labor ripped out $700 million from our border protection agencies. They hamstrung the agencies with dysfunctional policies and the worst administration that this country had seen since federation. What has happened since the election of the Abbott government—let me tell you this—

Mr Champion interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The member for Wakefield will leave under 94(a) to get his early plane.

The member for Wakefield then left the chamber.

Mr DUTTON: over the last 12 months, under this government, we have seen one boat arrive. And yet in 2013, under Labor, there were 302 boats. At the same time, we have been able to put together a package of $630 million announced by the Prime Minister, the Minister for Justice and others, including my predecessor, who did a great job in this portfolio, that is part of this government's counter-terrorism response. It included $150 million for standing up 80 officer counter-terrorism units at airports across the country; $35 million for the outwards Advance Passenger Processing system; $50 million for outward departure gates; and $14 million to expand our global airline liaison officer network, and the work has—(Time expired)