Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

I was making the point that not everyone in the opposition has the sort of reactionary views that Senator Cash has. Not everyone sees the world in such hysterical terms. Senator Cash has a particular interpretation of what Mr Metcalfe said at the estimates committee. I disagree and I know a number of her colleagues from her own side disagree. We have indicated the regional protection framework and the regional processing centre is all about breaking open the people-smuggling rackets, because what we want to do is to ensure that we are able to provide people with a very clear understanding of our determination to stop people smuggling. We have all said and always said that this is not an easy process and there is no quick fix involved. Rather than engage in simplistic slogans and very poorly argued positions, we are committed to working cooperatively with regional partners to develop a sustainable regional response to what is a very significant regional problem. We are not alone in the world in dealing with this problem and we are turning to others to work with them to find a solution to these questions of people smuggling. Senator, it is unfortunate that you have such poor hearing—  (Time expired)