Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I was asked what responsibility I had and the answer is that I accept full responsibility for the implementation of government policy on immigration. On the question of the actual physical treatment of asylum seekers in Indonesia, our cooperation extends in three directions: first, with the Indonesian government; secondly, with the UNHCR; and, thirdly, with the IOM, the International Organisation for Migration.

Furthermore, I would say to those opposite that these are not unique cooperative arrangements when it comes to the physical accommodation of any asylum seekers who are in centres within Indonesia both under this government, including prospectively the 78, which are the subject of the honourable member’s question, and who were similarly detained during the period of the previous government’s office. The funding arrangements to support Indonesia bilaterally and to support the international agencies—the UNHCR and the IOM—go back at least to 2005 and involved expenditures by the previous government of several tens of millions of dollars. We have continued that practice and have been completely transparent about it.

The conditions which pertain to the accommodation of individuals within centres in Indonesia are obviously subject to continued collaboration between the UNHCR, the IOM and the Indonesian authorities. We expect our friends in Indonesia to be constructive and fully engage with those discussions with the international agencies. We support them in their efforts, as I assume the previous government supported them in the period when they were in office.

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