Liberal Party’s border security deceit
Wednesday 22 October 2008
The Liberal Party has been caught deceiving the public over funding for Australia’s border security measures.
The Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Dr Sharman Stone, and the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells have both falsely claimed that $67.4 million has been “stripped out of the critical area of border security and immigration processing.”
The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs today heard that the figures quoted by Dr Stone and Senator Fierravanti-Wells in fact relate to the dismantling of the Howard Government’s failed Pacific solution and the abolition of the unjust Temporary Protection visa regime.
The committee heard that the Budget papers clearly show that the closure of the offshore processing centres in Nauru and Manus Island results in $68.7 million in savings over five years.
The Budget papers show that the $68.7 million saving is offset by a $1.3 million cost for the abolition of the Temporary Protection visas granted to refugees by the previous government.
Dr Stone and Senator Fierravanti-Wells are misleading the public by falsely claiming that the $67.4 million figure is a cut to border security measures.
It is also worth noting that the Budget papers reveal a $116 million increase in total net resourcing for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship for 2008-09.
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/media/media-releases/2008/ce08103.htm
Last update: 22 October 2008 at 11:44 AEST