Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Attorney-General, Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:25): I do not offer expert medical opinions because I have no expertise to offer expert medical opinions. I would always hope that medical professionals would act in accordance with their best professional judgement. But, from the media reports that I have seen of the action at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, the medical staff concerned seem to me to be making a political rather than a clinical point. Senator Di Natale, you want children out of detention; so do we. We have done something about it. Senator Di Natale, may I tell you that there are today 1,800 fewer children in detention than there were when the coalition government was elected a little more than two years ago. Fewer than 200 children remain in detention; almost 2,000 children were in detention under the policies that you supported. So, Senator Di Natale, I understand your concern as a medical professional yourself— The PRESIDENT: Pause the clock. Senator Di Natale, a point of order? Senator Di Natale: I would just ask Senator Brandis to reflect on the statement he just made; that the Greens 'supported a policy of having children in detention'— The PRESIDENT: That is not a point of order. Senator Di Natale: I suspect that is misleading the parliament and he might want to reframe his statement. The PRESIDENT: That is a debating point. If you feel you have been misrepresented, there are opportunities to raise that at a different point in the program. Senator Brandis, you have the call. Senator BRANDIS: I simply make the point to you, Senator Di Natale, that there are now fewer than 200 children in detention. When the coalition was elected, little more than two years ago, there were almost 2,000 children in detention. The regional processing framework, which was the policy of the previous Labor government as well as the coalition government, has been an essential element in deterrence, in persuading people not to undertake the perilous and treacherous voyage by sea which saw more than 1,000 lives lost, many of them children.