Senator CASH (Western Australia—Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Employment and Minister for Women) (14:38): I thank Senator Duniam for his question. The one thing the coalition government has done is stopped the boats. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order on my left! Can we at least give a minister a handful of seconds before the wall of noise starts? I appreciate active debate, but Senator Cash had barely completed her first sentence. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: The continual noise will merely chew up time in question time. Can we give the minister an opportunity to address the question before the vigorous debate of question time leads to interjections? Senator CASH: Thank you. As I was saying, we have stopped the boats and we have secured our nation's borders, because, as we know, the first priority of the Commonwealth government needs to be maintaining national security, and we have smashed the people smugglers' model. But this has only occurred because the— Senator Cameron interjecting— Senator O'Neill interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Cameron and Senator O'Neill, we've already had one request from the end of the chamber for the noise to be a little bit less so that all senators can hear the answer. Senator Wong, on a point of order. Senator Wong: The opposition's view is that this minister should have resigned. So you should not be surprised, frankly, after misleading the Senate five times, at the interjections. The PRESIDENT: Senator Wong, precedence and privilege are granted to the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, as should be the case, but that was not a point of order. I ask that we express some courtesy to the senators who might want to hear the answer to the question, particularly those not close to Senator Cash. Senator CASH: The only reason we have been able to stop the boats, and for so long now, is that we have stood firm and implemented strong border protection policies. When those on the other side were saying you could not turn the boats around, what did we do? We did exactly that, despite the fact that they fought us every step of the way. We introduced temporary protection visas, again something that Labor and the Greens fought tooth and nail against. It is very, very obvious, given, in particular, what we have seen today, that if those opposite ever form government again this is what will happen, as it did before: 50,000 people arrived on in excess of 800 boats. There were 1,200 deaths at sea, that we know of— Senator Cameron interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Cameron, I have asked you twice. There have been an uninterrupted stream of interjections. Please! Interjections have their place in the chamber, but an uninterrupted stream for more than a minute while a minister is answering a question is not appropriate. Senator Cameron. Senator Cameron: This is a minister with absolutely no credibility. The PRESIDENT: Senator Cameron, resume your seat. There is a place for interjections—this is not a chamber of silence—but an uninterrupted stream is not appropriate. Can we please have some courtesy, as we have been requested from our fellow senators at the end of the chamber, so that they may hear the answer? Senator CASH: As I was saying, there were over 8,000 children in detention. They were detained by Labor when they were in government. I remind the chamber that at the height of Labor's policy failure in July 2013, there were 1,992 children in detention. As a result of the flood of people coming here illegally, those on the other side had to open 17 detention centres. There is a reason you have to stand firm. If you don't, you capitulate to the people smugglers. The PRESIDENT: Senator Duniam, a supplementary question.