John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is a matter of public importance and it is sad that we have to have such a divisive debate as is taking place now and as always seems to take place. I find it particularly galling when I listen to the Leader of the Opposition during question time, to the mover of the motion, the member for Cook—who I have a great deal of time for—and to the previous speaker lecturing our government about the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers, particularly given the recent history and statements of the Leader of the Opposition. He has himself vowed to tow the boats back to where they came from. That is hardly a compassionate solution, particularly as we know that many of the boats that come to Australia are barely seaworthy and have little chance of making it back to their point of origin.

I think the member for Cook referred to the 'embellished rhetoric' of the government in relation to this whole issue. I find that particularly galling given that I sat in this chamber at the time the Howard government and the member for Berowra, who was then the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, traded on that appalling crisis with the children overboard. We saw desperate people coming to Australia being portrayed in a very dark way. The politics at that time were a sad chapter in Australia's history—imagine if we were in the same position as those people: desperate to leave behind a life of crisis and to just get their basic human needs met in another country. It was positively disgraceful. It was a really dark chapter. Sadly, the now opposition, the then government, seem to have forgotten about that. I am trying not to be too negative, but that really sticks in my throat. Yet here we are today with the Leader of the Opposition and the members for Cook and Stirling lecturing us about having an inhumane policy. Let us not forget that we are talking about people who have fled dreadful circumstances in their own country and who have witnessed things we could never begin to imagine. How desperate and vulnerable they must be.

As you have heard, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship today announced the important cooperative transfer agreement with Malaysia, which I believe will go a long way towards putting an end to the disturbing business of people smuggling. The government wants to stop these already vulnerable people from being preyed upon by the people smugglers. We want to stop those people from risking their lives by getting on boats to come to Australia. That is why our policy is sending a very clear message to the world that people thinking about coming to Australia will not be processed in Australian, and certainly will not be guaranteed settlement in Australia. This policy is about putting the people smugglers out of business. We do not want criminals preying on, and profiting from, vulnerable people. We are serious about putting an end to this despicable trade in human life. That is why our government believes that these people have the right to have their claim for asylum considered compassionately. If their claims are found to be genuine, we believe the international community has an obligation to offer protection. We are certainly not shirking our responsibility as a member of the international community, and we are acknowledging that this is a global problem and a regional problem and we are not the only country to be faced with the question of what to do with irregular arrivals. Thousands upon thousands every day are pouring into Europe. In comparison, a very small number of people want to come to Australia. Importantly, we are also acknowledging that we cannot go it alone in solving this problem. In order to effect real change to solve this regional problem we need a regional agenda, and that makes sense. I appeal to the goodwill and the spirit of the opposition to try to work with the government to come up with a truly humane and compassionate policy which will send the very good message to the international community that we actually welcome people.

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