Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. I note that senators opposite think it is funny. We might do a question one day on what they did to the refugee program, turning it to special needs, which some people thought was an ungracious way of buying seats, but if we want to make this political we will come back that.

We work very closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and we take their advice on who is most in need. We do not take the people smugglers’ advice on who they can dump on our shores; we go to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and ask, ‘Where are the people most in need?’ These are people who have had to endure hardship that most Australians never even think about. They include children who know no life other than outside a refugee camp, in many cases without power or running water. When they arrive, they will be connected with our world-class integrated humanitarian settlement scheme. I might not have time in this part of my answer—I feel sure Senator Payne will have a supplementary question—to outline some of the benefits that are provided. It is important to highlight those benefits, because we are not a country that says, ‘You’re most in need. Come here and we’ll just dump you.’ In fact, we have a very well integrated and sophisticated resettlement scheme. (Time expired)