Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is sceptical that the flow of asylum seekers is slowing.
He says there is still a pipeline of some 10,000 would-be asylum seekers yet to make the trip to Australian waters.
It beggars belief that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who caused this problem when he backed away from the Howard government policy in 2008, could ever fix it, he says.
"How can anything be working if it has produced 50,000 plus illegal arrivals by boat," he told reporters in Tasmania.
"The idea that the person who created this problem has suddenly magically solved it, the idea that Mr Rudd can just somehow absolve himself of culpability and responsibility for this will never wash with the Australian people."
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Immigration Minister Tony Burke has said that intelligence reports from Indonesia indicate many potential asylum seekers were now seeking their money back from people smugglers, indicating the government's tough stand was working.
Mr Abbott said thanks to Mr Rudd's policies, there was a huge pipeline of potential illegal arrivals.
Labor has said there may be up to 15,000 in Indonesia.
"If you want to stop the boats, it's not enough to rely on other countries to do it for you, you have got to put the right policies in place on our borders," he said.
