Senator BACK (Western Australia) (15:09): The contrast between the government and the opposition in the Senate was evident for everybody to see today. When you saw the level of questions and the level of excellent responses by ministers to questions, the difference was absolutely amazing. The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate asked questions that took less than one minute to respond to, because, as a former minister, Senator Wong herself knows that those questions that are raised in cabinet will not be the subject of commentary across the Senate chamber. Adding further insult to herself, Senator Wong then went on and quoted from Minister Turnbull, only to find the excellent Attorney-General turn that around against her and he, of course, concurred with Mr Turnbull's comments about the rule of law. That did not take very long—did it?—before we got to the questions asked by Senator O'Neill. The Attorney-General, of course, had no hesitation in drawing Senator O'Neill's attention to the words of her own leader, Mr Shorten when he went on to say— Senator O'Neill interjecting— Senator BACK: I did not interfere when you were speaking, Senator O'Neill. Mr Deputy President, I did not interrupt when Senator O'Neill was speaking, but it is interesting that Mr Shorten made the statement that governments do not comment on security matters. Who was the authoritative— Opposition senators interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator BACK: Who was the authoritative source that Senator O'Neill was quoting? The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Back, you might resume your seat. The Senate needs to come to order. Senator BACK: I was being distracted by those opposite, Mr Deputy President. The authoritative source that Senator O'Neill was quoting from was none other than the captain of the people smugglers himself. What a wonderful reputation! Senator O'Neill interjecting— Senator Lines interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator BACK: What a wonderful source that person would be to be quoted by a senator from the Labor opposition. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senators should cease interjecting. Senator BACK: As everybody in this place knows, we are talking about the six years when we know about a person who drowned at sea every second day. There were many more— Senator O'Neill: Tell the truth! Senator Lines: The truth will come out! Senator BACK: 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. Senator O'Neill: That is not what I said. Senator BACK: Mr Deputy President, here are some of the comments that Mr Walker made in his final report. First of all, Mr Walker— Senator O'Neill: That is not what I said. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator BACK: If you listened, rather than tried to speak, you might learn. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Back, just resume your seat. I have been constantly calling the Senate to order, and it is time that the interjections ceased completely. Senator BACK: The points I wish to make with regard to Mr Walker's comments in his final report are these. First of all, he said that dual citizenship is not a human right; he referred to the action going on in Britain, where a similar discretion is given to the Secretary of State—a minister of the government. Of course, Senator Brandis made no commentary at all, either yesterday or today. He made no commentary at all on what Mr Bret Walker said. For the benefit again of Senator Collins, he merely read out verbatim from Mr Walker's report. Now Mr Walker might come back and want to retract—to change it, to amend it or whatever—but to attack the Attorney-General on something that Mr Walker himself had said in his report is a bit rich. (Time expired)