Bernardi, Sen Cory

Senator BERNARDI (South Australia) (18:05): In rising to make a contribution on this motion I recall some wisdom given to me very early on in my business career, that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. It is pleasing to me that most people in this place have recognised that we could not continue to get the results that we have in respect of our border protection and the arrival of illegal vessels as we have seen over the last four years. I say 'most' because there are still groups of people in here, within the Greens party, who refuse to accept that the evidence that the change from the policies that worked under the Howard administration to those that were introduced by the Rudd-Gillard administration has resulted in hundreds of boats and tens of thousands of people paying their way to circumvent Australia's orderly humanitarian refugee program as well as our orderly and regular immigration intake, for their own desire to live in this country. More importantly, it ignores entirely the fact that at least 1,000 and possibly more—no-one can know how many more—people have paid money to people smugglers to get on leaky boats and they have died at sea. They have drowned and disappeared without trace. Senator Hanson-Young: And what did you do about it? Senator BERNARDI: I hear Senator Hanson-Young chiming in, as she normally does. This is the senator that, when one great tragedy occurred, said, 'Well, tragedies happen.' Such was her blase-ness. Such was your concern for the people who died at sea, Senator Hanson-Young, that you said, 'Tragedies happen.' Then you come in here with your crocodile tears. You are the phoniest of phonies. You are a media show pony that is just a fake and a fraud. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Stephens ): Order! Senator Bernardi, through the chair, please. Senator BERNARDI: Before I was rudely interrupted— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Not by me, I hope! Senator BERNARDI: Not by you, Madam Acting Deputy President, but by Senator Hanson-Young. There was a process in which the boats had effectively stopped, and it was not done only so that Australia could protect its borders; it was a matter of the Australian people determining what is in their best interests. Senator Hanson-Young: What about the children that lost their lives on the SIEVX under your government? Senator BERNARDI: Senator Hanson-Young continues to get engaged about the children that have died, and she goes back to the time of the SIEVX. Indeed, it was a tragedy, and that is why we implemented policies that stopped the boats coming. We know the callous and hard-hearted Senator Hanson-Young is becoming increasingly embittered because of her failed leadership attempts within the Greens, and now she continues to desperately look for any other way to grab some notoriety along the way. If she listened instead of talking all the time, we would have a far better opportunity to determine how Australia's national interest is improved by having an orderly migration and refugee program. I make the point that those on this side of the chamber and those on the Labor side of the chamber actually support a humanitarian refugee intake. It is something that we think is important. We have in excess of 13,000 places currently there for that. We have people in camps right around the world, wading through the United Nations processes to come to Australia or be delivered into a better life, and we support the United Nations in that endeavour. Some of them, indeed, are waiting five, 10 or 15 years in order to do that. Unfortunately, there are people in this chamber, within the Greens party, who would prefer people to be able to buy their way into the country by paying criminals who facilitate illegal entry vessels. I am not sure how that fits in with the Greens' global agenda, but nonetheless it is wrong. It is wrong that people are able to, in effect, circumvent the appropriate processes by paying money. That might sit comfortably within the Greens party, but it does not sit comfortably with the people of Australia. It is a great concern that, despite the overwhelming evidence, people are still refusing to see the truth, if you will. But, having said that, I do not stand here believing that a return to offshore processing itself will stem this tide—this virtual armada—of illegal vessels. I do not see that, because the people smugglers are quite canny and they know that the government's policies in this regard will eventually meet a tipping point. The tipping point will be when Nauru, Manus Island and whatever other solutions they can concoct are full. So the problem is that we have the first leg of a three-legged stool. But it is progress, because hopefully it will deter some people from making a dangerous and perilous journey and taking advantage of Australia's good will. But there are other aspects that need to be implemented in order to fully protect people from the vicious people-smuggling trade. We need a return to temporary protection visas. When people are fleeing countries in genuine fear of their lives and they are desperately looking for a humanitarian solution, they need to know they can stop somewhere and be safe until it is safe for them to return to their home countries. I pick up on a few words that Senator Siewert said. She is generally very measured in these areas. Senator Siewert made a point about people fleeing for their lives and about war zones and things of that nature. Predominantly the boats come from Indonesia, which is neither a war zone nor where people are being persecuted—except Christians in some areas. People that reside in Indonesia are generally safe and they have opportunities. They have entered Indonesia through one, two or three countries—sometimes from Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere. So it is not as if they have fled their direct point of peril. They have gone through a number of areas in order to reside in Indonesia. The second point I make about the boats is that some of them come from Sri Lanka. Of course, Sri Lanka has had a troubled time, and there is no question about that, but Sri Lanka is now no longer a war zone—as evidenced, I guess, by the fact that the Deputy President of the Senate is now representing the President at an international parliamentary conference there this week. We are not in the habit of sending senior parliamentary representatives to war zones for political conferences. The point I make is that it is disingenuous to say that these people are fleeing a war zone or are fleeing in fear of their lives. They have had an opportunity to move to different countries in some instances, or they are leaving because they think that there is a better life in Australia. There may indeed be a better life for them in Australia, but we should be determining who comes to Australia and the circumstances in which they come to Australia, as John Howard famously said. More importantly, we should not undermine the work of the United Nations through the processes that are formally in place in many of these camps. Senator Di Natale interjecting— Senator BERNARDI: It is a great concern that there are those over on my left who are flippant about such important things as this because they do not like dealing with the facts. The facts that we have are that there are successful policies that have been proven to work in the past. They were dismantled by the government, ill-advisedly, and the boats started to come again and people started to die again. We do not have a cavalier manner about this. We do not have a cavalier approach to it; we have a genuine desire to make sure that people do not die at sea. In that respect, I am pleased that the Labor Party have joined us. I am pleased that people like Senator Doug Cameron stood up here in this chamber and said, 'When the facts change, I change my mind.' It is a credit to Senator Cameron, because he is quite intransigent on any number of things, but he has recognised through the caucus process that this is a very important path. The problem that we have is that there are still those people masquerading as compassionate who somehow think there should be an open slather where anyone who wants to arrive in Australia should be able to come here. There is no actual proposal from the Greens about what limit there should be on the number of people who claim refugee status in Australia. There is no point that the boats should stop coming because people are dying. The only suggestion they could perhaps offer is that we fly them in directly or buy a ship. Maybe we could use that trawler that they successfully banned today; just load it up with refugees and bring it over to satisfy the insatiable demand from the Greens to undermine whatever sovereignty Australia has. It is an extraordinary position. It is a wilfully negligent position they have taken with regard to this. Whilst I feel very strongly about this—and I know that many people do on this particular area—I think we have to take a genuine humanitarian approach. The fact is that, if refugees or illegal arrivals are processed offshore in Nauru or on Manus Island, they will be safe. This satisfies that. They will be accommodated, they will be fed, they will receive appropriate medical care and they will receive the appropriate education and lessons required to ensure that it happens. Senator Ludlam: Some of them will kill themselves on that island. Senator BERNARDI: Senator Ludlam says that some will kill themselves. It is a bit rich for Senator Ludlam and Senator Hanson-Young, who just dismiss the hundreds of people who die at sea—the thousands of souls that float around as a result of the Greens' policies— Senator Hanson-Young interjecting— Senator BERNARDI: You should creep yourself out—not just the rest of Australia—because, honestly, how can you live with yourself at night? It is extraordinary. None make so much noise as the empty vessels, and we have heard a lot of noise about a whole range of things, none of them directly relevant to the fact that thousands of people are dying at sea because of the stupid and ridiculous policies that the Greens want to encourage to keep them there. It is extraordinary. Senator Hanson-Young: And you want to push them back to danger. Senator BERNARDI: I know responding to interjections is disorderly, but, yes, Senator Hanson-Young, I do want to keep them from hopping in these leaky boats. I want to keep them where they are safe, whereas you want them to hop on the boats and risk dying on the journey to Australia because of your policies. That may sit well with you but it does not sit well with me, and I do not think it sits well with the Labor Party or the coalition. We have a serious issue whereby those who profess accountability and transparency refuse to accept the facts. The other question I would like to raise is about the fact that the policy that the Greens support is a very expensive one. It is costing billions and billions of dollars. It is easy for them to endorse these sorts of policies; I remember just last week when there was an announcement of a dental scheme between Senator di Natale and the health minister. Senator di Natale was asked about the cost of this problem. There was a shrug of the shoulders, and he said: 'It's not my problem; it's the government's problem. They've got to do it.' This is the level of political discourse and fiscal responsibility that has been exhibited by the controlling party on the government side. It is an appalling indictment on their lack of accountability and it goes to the point that, since Senator Bob Brown left—I did not agree with Senator Brown on a lot of things, but he was a canny and wily politician and he knew about a whole range of things—we have a rabble within the Greens. They have not got a clue. They cannot even control the government anymore, although they are doing their level best to. But let us go back to the matter at hand. Australia deserves an orderly program for the processing of genuine refugees. It is not about facilitating, incentivising or encouraging those who are economic refugees, those who have the cash to game the system, to pay their way into Australia, to destroy their papers on the way, the people who can make claims and counterclaims with very little accountability. We need to do what we can to discourage those who want to take advantage; but, more importantly, we need to do what we can to stop those who are risking their lives unnecessarily, and this offshore processing program will be a step in the right direction. There are two more legs in the stool, as I said. Temporary protection visas are very important to this. The other one is about turning the boats back where it is safe to do so because we need to send a very clear message that we will not facilitate in any way, shape or form the people smuggling business.