Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If you want to talk about cheap, talk about your politics. The cheapness we have to put up with today is listening to what comes from those opposite, which means nothing. We know that national policy settings alone cannot resolve the challenges the world faces in relation to asylum seekers. We know that that cannot be done. That is why the report strongly talks about a regional framework, as agreed at the fourth Bali Regional Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crimes held in March 2011. The regional framework provides a very productive way forward and the principles that underline the RCF and the guidance provided for practical arrangements developed in it are further explored when you look through attachment No. 6 to the report.

The report is very comprehensive in the way it deals with all the issues at hand, understanding what goes on. You have a collective group of people who are very intelligent and level-headed. They are not political. They are out there to do a job. They have done a fantastic job in the six weeks since parliament came to a grinding halt on this issue. We should wholeheartedly support the recommendations in the report, to get on with something and to deliver it straight away, to find some way to get through this and, going back to what I said, to stop people getting on to boats to risk their lives to come to this country.

How we can do this is something we should all be working at, as genuine human beings. Increasing our humanitarian intake to 20,000 places per annum with a minimum of 12,000 places for the refugee component of the program is a big step going forward. We on this side support 20,000 places—it is in our platform. We also support the move to get to 27,000 places in five years. This problem is not Australia's alone. There are millions of displaced people around the world who fear persecution and are not able to return to their homelands. Our country is a safe haven where they can enjoy a life with opportunities and freedom. We should wholeheartedly support this report. We should not pontificate, wasting time for the next four or five hours. We should get on with the job. We should agree to the amendments put forward by the minister to get this solution under way as quickly as possible.

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