Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the government’s denials before the last election of any plan to expand the immigration detention facilities at Broadmeadows. Now that the government has announced that the Melbourne immigration transit accommodation at Broadmeadows is to be expanded, how can anybody believe any promise made by this government?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. I know I was actually discussing with her that questions of redistribution in Victoria are pressing on her mind, but I did not understand she had her sights on Broadmeadows. It is a long way from her current electorate.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Prime Minister will return to the question.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In any event, can I say to the member opposite: obviously, the government has made a set of decisions about asylum seeker facilities. They were announced by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. As I said yesterday, as the minister for immigration has said today and as I am happy to reiterate, obviously the department of immigration, from time to time working with the Department of Defence, considers contingencies and options for asylum seeker accommodation. There is nothing new in this. Similar processes used to happen under the previous government, the Howard government. I would remind the member, for example, that the Howard government actually dealt with the facility at Christmas Island as a contingency. So this sort of planning goes on, work goes on, and that work has been happening in the department of immigration with, from time to time as it impacts on defence facilities, the Department of Defence. The minister for immigration made an announcement on 17 September about immigration facilities. There are some implications for the facility the member refers to and they are now on the public record.