Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I am not sure I am going to do anything about ‘Australia’, but I certainly am interested in protecting Australia’s borders, in ensuring that we have orderly migration to this country and in working with our neighbours to restrict unlawful movement into this country. We are very focused in trying to deal with the recent spike in activity. We are working with Indonesia, Malaysia and other neighbours to try to address this. We are maintaining strong border protection measures that see boats intercepted, see people detained, and see people undergo the normal health, identity and security checks before they are released into the community. Those found to be refugees are given protection; those found not to be refugees are returned to their country of origin. We think that is sound public policy and if you are asking whether we are going to go down the Pacific Solution route which the Liberal Party has announced today, the answer is no.