Government addresses concerns over record asylum seekers arriving by air
The Immigration Minister has hit back after Labor declared it a crisis that more than 95,000 asylum seekers have flown into Australia over the past five years.
Labor home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was responsible for a “crisis” greater than the boat arrivals under Labor.
The trend is expected to bring annual arrivals to record highs with about 80 people a day claiming protection after landing at an Australian airport since the start of July.
At this rate, there will be more than 29,000 claims for asylum this financial year.
But Immigration Minister David Coleman tells Ben Fordham the number of applications is actually coming down.
“These are people that come with visas legally… if they apply for protection after they arrive 90 per cent of them get rejected.
“In the last three years, we’ve approved 31 per cent less visas for air arrivals than the Labor party did in their last three years.”
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