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Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Page: 9877

Asylum Seekers

Mr ABBOTT (Warringah—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): My question is to the Prime Minister. I remind the Prime Minister of her former view that offshore processing was costly, unsustainable and wrong in principle. I remind her of her current view that people have to be sent to Malaysia in order to destroy the people smugglers' business model. I ask: is she now admitting that the Rudd-Gillard government was wrong to dismantle the Howard government's 2008 border protection policies, policies that worked?

Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:11): In answer to the Leader of the Opposition's question, what the government has done is work through a new and innovative solution—that is, the Malaysia agreement—a transfer agreement, not something done under the Howard government, but something that according to the best possible advice that we have received is the strongest deterrent available to us now.

Opposition members interjecting—

Ms GILLARD: To the Leader of the Opposition I say this: it is important that the Leader of the Opposition and the members of his front bench who are interjecting now absorb the facts of what is happening with people smuggling and asylum seekers. I know the word 'facts' always causes the opposition to guffaw because actually absorbing and understanding the facts is never their strong suit.

But the facts are these: we have the clearest possible advice from the same experts who advised the Howard government that the strongest deterrence message we can send now is the agreement with Malaysia. We have the clearest possible advice to that effect. We have the clearest possible advice that having offshore processing on Nauru without having other measures like the Malaysia agreement would not have the deterrence value that we seek. We have the clearest possible advice to that effect. But I understand, that in this parliament and beyond, it will be controversial between the government and the opposition as to whether the best solution for people-smuggling issues is to have the Malaysia transfer arrangement or to have processing on Nauru.

The government will maintain, standing on the basis of the best possible advice available to us, that we should implement the Malaysia arrangement. I expect the Leader of the Opposition to maintain that he opposes the arrangement with Malaysia and he seeks to have processing on Nauru. That debate will continue, but the issue that will come before the parliament and the issue that needs to be determined is whether or not executive government, any executive government, should have the power and authority it needs in order to put in place and beyond legal doubt offshore processing measures. I will be seeking to amend the Migration Act so that that legal authority is there. We will use that legal authority to implement the arrangement with Malaysia and to have a processing centre in Nauru. I fully understand if the Leader of the Opposition were ever elected Prime Minister of this country he would use that power in order to have processing on Nauru.

Mr Hockey: Processing on Nauru—that's what the Prime Minister said?

Ms GILLARD: Sorry, Malaysia and PNG. The Leader of the Opposition supports processing in Nauru.

Opposition members interjecting—

Ms GILLARD: They are always on the substance and the issues of big principle, Mr Speaker!

And so the question that the Leader of the Opposition needs to answer is not whether he agrees with the government about Malaysia and PNG—

Mr Simpkins: Failure after failure!

The SPEAKER: The member for Cowan is warned.

Ms GILLARD: The question he needs to answer is whether he will support legislative amendments that enable executive government to make decisions about offshore processing. We await his answer, and I hope he answers that question not in the spirit of the interjections today but in the national interest.