Abbott abandons stop the boat promise
Friday, 22 February 2013
Tony Abbott has been exposed by his Immigration Spokesperson on his claim he would stop the boats 'within a few months'.
The Opposition is now walking crablike away from a solemn Tony Abbott promise to 'stop the boats', saying they won't be able to fix this problem as promised.
On Wednesday, Tony Abbott said in Melbourne:
'…within a few months the carbon tax will be gone, within a few months the mining tax will be gone, the boats will be stopped…'
Just one day later, his Shadow Minister for Immigration is saying this issue would take 'years to fix'.
Mr Morrison has finally admitted what the government has always known, that the Coalition has no quick fix to stop asylum seekers traveling to Australia by boat.
The Shadow Minister also wouldn’t say whether he would quit if he hadn’t stopped the boats within 12 months, should he become Immigration Minister. This is because he knows that the Coalition’s 'stop the boats' slogan is not a policy, rather they are just empty words.
The Gillard Government knows that a three word slogan will not stop the global problem of people using desperate measures to seek asylum.
We need a regional approach involving countries of origin, transit and destination under the auspices of the Bali Process.
Mr Abbott has also been caught out doctoring parts of the transcript of his speech in which he said he would stop the boats 'within a few months'.
How are voters meant to believe anything Mr Abbott says?
The Gillard Government is determined to break the people smugglers' business model and stop them taking people's life savings and all too often their lives.
We are committed to implementing all the recommendations of the Expert Panel into Asylum Seekers.
It's time the Opposition and the Greens Party listened to the experts and support the recommendations in full.
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/cb/2013/cb193659.htm
Last update: Friday, 22 February 2013 at 15:10 AEST