My question is to the Acting Prime Minister and I refer her to the 78 asylum seekers aboard the Australian Customs vessel Oceanic Viking in waters off the coast of Indonesia. I also refer her to the fact that under international maritime law these asylum seekers should immediately have been taken to the nearest safe port, in this case in Indonesia. Can the Acting Prime Minister explain to the House why this has not already happened?

I thank the opposition leader for his question. Before directly dealing with his question, perhaps I should just place a little bit of context on the record here. Of course, we know we live in a world where there is movement of people around the globe. I think we would all prefer to live in a world where there was no war or no persecution and no-one moved. But the truth is that each year of the last 20 years in this country people have arrived here by boat. This happened under the Howard government. For example, from 1998 to 2001 under the Howard government—

Why don’t you answer the question?

Order! No matter what the provocation, shouting across the table, as the Manager of Opposition Business was doing, is uncalled for. I would also caution those on my left on the frontbench not to do anything that would provoke; but, as I said, provocation is not a reason for displaying that sort of behaviour. It would be suggested that perhaps, given the nature of some of the concerns that people have, we should show a degree of respect to each other.

As I was saying, of course, when the Howard government was in office we saw 12,176 asylum seekers—

Mr Speaker, a point of order on relevance, to this extent: the Acting Prime Minister prefaced her remarks by saying ‘Before I answer the question’ and then proceeded on the course of action she is taking. If she wished to ask for indulgence, she should have done so; otherwise, I would ask you to refer her to the question.

The Acting Prime Minister has the call. I will listen carefully to her response. She knows that she has to respond to the question.

I am assuming that, on this important issue of public policy, people are interested in the full picture. So I am making the simple point that in each of the last 20 years we have seen unauthorised arrivals by boat.

Mr Speaker, a point of order on relevance: the Acting Prime Minister assumes wrongly. We want an answer to our specific question, which is why the 78 asylum seekers have not been taken—

Order! The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat.

Mr Pyne interjecting

The Manager of Opposition Business is warned. He is warned for the comments that he made after he was invited to resume his seat and on the way back to the bench. As I said, I will listen carefully to the Acting Prime Minister. She is responding to the question. She has the call and she knows her obligations to respond to the question.

I do thank the member for Sturt for confirming that the opposition are not interested in the full context of this complex issue. Clearly they are just interested in making cheap political points about it. To respond to the Leader of the Opposition’s question, which has now been placed in a context in which it should be understood by the member for Sturt, can I respond as follows. The Australian government on the weekend responded to reports of a vessel in distress off the coast of Sumatra in the Indonesian search and rescue area. The Indonesian search and rescue authority is the lead agency and is coordinating the response. The Australian government offered assistance to the government of Indonesia and this was accepted by the Indonesian search and rescue authority. As part of its efforts to assist in the search and rescue, HMAS Armidale made contact with the vessel and to ensure the safety of the passengers the people have been taken off the vessel and are on board the Oceanic Viking. Initial indications are that there are 78 passengers on board the vessel in distress, including five women and five young children. The passengers are safe and have no major medical problems. One passenger has a fever and her condition is being monitored.

As the vessel was in the Indonesian search and rescue region, Indonesia is the coordinating authority. We are consulting with the Indonesian search and rescue authority about options for bringing the rescued people to a safe place. In doing so we will follow the letter of the law in relation to this matter. International laws relating to safety of life at sea issues are in place to ensure the safety of everyone who finds themselves in distress at sea. They create a complex set of overlapping obligations that the government are currently assessing with the Indonesian government. At the conclusion of this assessment we will act in a way entirely consistent with our legal obligations. We will do so because laws associated with the safety of life at sea protect everyone who travels by sea. Those laws specifically protect Australian sailors and merchant mariners who may find themselves in distress on the high seas. Consequently we will be abiding by the letter of that international law, and we are doing so.