Richard Marles and the Labor party are in no position to give advice on border protection and the detention of illegal maritime arrivals.
Mr Marles now claims – if ever returned to government – to fix the problems he and his colleagues created in the first place when they were last in Government.
His contention today that Labor would play “a leadership role” in a regional asylum seeker framework through the Bali Process is laughable.
Labor made these sorts of claims when they sought election in 2007. Remember Kevin Rudd’s vow to stop the people smugglers’ boats.
What happened – over six years more than 800 illegal boats, more than 50,000 illegal arrivals, more than 1200 people lost at sea, detention centres opened including regional processing centres on Nauru and Manus Island, the detention centres were filled with up to 10,000 people at a peak, including almost 2000 children.
Now Mr Marles wants people to believe that Labor can solve what remains of its own mess – a ludicrous proposition.
The Coalition stopped the boats, emptied and closed the detention centres and removed children from detention – there are just 25 IMA children remaining in detention today and I am working towards zero.
Mr Marles is too busy papering over the cracks in Labor’s border policies to be able to achieve anything.
Indeed should Labor ever be returned to power the loony left led by Labor’s Deputy Leader Tanya Plibersek would quickly overrule Mr Marles and throw open the nation’s borders to the people smugglers once again – with yet more disastrous results.