"Welcome to Utopia" - Schultz

February 23, 2012

The Federal Member for Hume, Alby Schultz MP has questioned the provision of rental accommodation and household goods for illegal boat arrivals despite many Australians not having it so easy.

“It is not surprising that so far this summer we have had twenty-six boat arrivals, totalling 2,186 people when the Labor Government is providing them with housing and consumer goods at a huge cost to the Australian tax-payer” Alby said. 

“The money spent on goods such as furniture, white goods, computers and pharmaceuticals for illegal immigrants would be better spent on Aussie families some of whom are yet to receive financial assistance following the Queensland floods, pensioners struggling to cope with rising electricity costs or to our university students who are accommodated in less than adequate housing despite being the future of our country” Alby said. 

“Illegal boat arrivals are testing our border protection security whilst the Gillard Government is continuing to delay effective measures to stem the illegal boat traffic flow” Alby added. 

“The Government is funding rental accommodation, household goods, utility connection costs, IT equipment and healthcare whilst average Australian citizens are finding it difficult to manage budgets to ensure they can afford the basics of everyday cost of living expenses” Alby said. 

“Ongoing illegal boat arrivals under the Gillard Government’s lack of effective immigration policy has seen the cost of accommodating and investigating illegal boat arrivals going through the roof to the extent of an estimated $1billion” Alby added. 

“Obviously, the increasing number of illegal boat people are heartened by the very attractive and generous gifting of ten thousand dollars which assist them to settle into their new-found ‘utopia’ created specifically for them by an incompetent Labor Government” Alby concluded. 

[ends.]