Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Development) Share this | Hansard source

My question notice is to Senator Vanstone in her capacity as Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Can the minister confirm that the Prime Minister has made comments that he is very patient and not hostage to any particular timetable for the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill? Was the minister also correctly quoted today as saying that there is no particular time frame for this bill? Can the minister therefore explain to the Senate why the bill has been rushed through the National Security Committee of cabinet and urgently introduced into parliament? If the government is not hostage to any particular timetable, why won’t it withdraw the bill to allow proper public debate, especially in light of the scathing Senate committee report which said the bill should be scrapped? Isn’t the only urgency in this matter because the Prime Minister and the government are hostage to the need to appease Indonesia?