It’s often said that history has a way of repeating itself, and Australia’s experienced a good dose of it recently with the return of the boats.

The boats are back. Labor has dusted off its welcome mat for the people smugglers who prey on human misery and false hope.

The dangers of the people smuggling trade were manifest in the arrival – in remote Western Australia – of two groups of people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh this past two weeks. They were dropped off in a very remote location and told to lay low while the smugglers made their getaway. They then made their way through crocodile infested areas to the nearest remote settlement. It could easily have ended in tragedy.

Labor has always been weak in protecting Australia’s borders from the scourge of people smuggling. More than 1200 smuggled people died at sea during Labor’s tenure from 2007-2013. Since the 2022 election, the Albanese Labor government has dismantled one of the most important deterrents against the boats: temporary protection visas.

The fallout from these new boat arrivals has not been good for the Prime Minister. It turns out the government was warned that maritime and aerial patrols of the main approaches to Australia have fallen significantly due to an ageing fleet of aircraft and a lack of pilots. It follows Labor failing to anticipate the release of 149 immigration detainees – including several murderers and sex offenders – by the High Court. Talk about sending criminal people smugglers the wrong message!

Labor has dropped the ball at our borders, and the people smugglers have very happily picked it up.

One Nation will never support boat arrivals being allowed to settle in Australia and will fight for the full, proven suite of deterrents against people smuggling to be reinstated to ensure our borders are not breached again.