Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the outset of my contribution to this matter of public importance I make the comment that if the problem was solved as the previous member suggested then the Australian taxpayers have got a right to ask why millions and millions of their dollars were spent on an edifice on Christmas Island. Why was it needed if the problem had disappeared? It was all over and there was never going to be boats again. It is a very real question when you are lauding the possibilities of increased taxpayer funding for immigration. Why was it constructed if the problem had been solved?

We are here today because of a tragic event off west Java. The people on that boat represent the dynamics of our problem—people who indisputably had genuine claims. Some are driven here by poverty to try to manipulate the refugee convention while others are encouraged by the possibilities of a country that a very kind legal system would give them in fighting the process for decades. Others are encouraged by the fact that essentially people cannot be deported because countries such as Iran will not take people back or because it is hard to prove people's identity when they do not have documents. Those people on the boats encompass all those dynamics, all those possibilities. I note that the use of the term 'protecting our borders' is designed to give another subliminal message to the electorate, basically to say that maybe there is some security or defence danger in these boats. That is what it is all about. That is why at the outset I wanted to reiterate the diverse reasons that drive people to undertake this journey.

Another speaker has commented on the views of the former member for Cook that, without Malaysia, boats see no impediment. Despite many disagreements with him, I deeply respect his genuine views on this matter. We have heard a lot of rhetoric throughout this debate that we should adopt Nauru, and we know over the past few months being a signatory to the UN convention is seemingly the be-all and end-all for those opposite. I make the point again that, as of April this year, there were 144 signatories to this convention. They include Afghanistan, Iran, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Sudan, the Congo Democratic Republic. They are countries that are basically exporting one thing to the world—refugee claimants—and yet they are signatories. Supposedly, because Malaysia is not a signatory, an effective policy has been damned. Previously, the opposition were able in government to say it was all right to send people to Nauru, despite the fact that it was not a signatory.

We do not have to rely on ancient history; we can also talk about more modern history. On 27 July last year, the member for Curtin said in a press conference that she, on behalf of the opposition, did not consider that being a signatory was a precondition for these kinds of processing areas. As late as July last year, she denied this fundamental requirement. We know they are grasping at any possibility to try to thwart the government—Nauru or nothing. We all know that on Nauru the possibilities for constructive employment are minimal—something that Malaysia has moved towards. We know that buildings that were used as detention centres before are now being used for schoolchildren. We also know there are water shortages. Yet the opposition runs around condemning Malaysia. I and the member for Melbourne Ports have been amongst those who have condemned Malaysia with regard to human rights. But at least Anwar Ibrahim could have his day in court; he could fight through a legal process. I was speaking to two MPs from Malaysian opposition party DAP the other week at a Tamil event who have doubts as to why the government in Malaysia is liberalising; they say it is all about the next elections and that Najib Razak is just manipulating for electoral purposes. But the fact of life is that internal security measures that have been there for decades are basically going to end next year. I want to quote Richard Towle about Malaysia. In an article on 2 November he noted:

n the context of the Malaysian arrangements, the assurances of legal stay and community-based reception for all transferees can be seen as a more positive protection environment than protracted—and in some cases indefinite—detention that many face here in Australia ...

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