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

I thank the senator for his question. I can reaffirm that this government remains committed to breaking the people-smuggling syndicates. We are committed to stopping people from getting onto boats to make what I trust everyone in this chamber acknow­ledges is a very dangerous journey to Australia. We are committed to an orderly migration program. That is why the government remains fully committed to the Malaysian arrangement which provides a genuinely effective plan to remove the product that people smugglers are selling—that is, a ticket to Australia.

The alternative policy is that of turning back the boats. The government's policy is a way of showing that we do not want people to undertake this journey because of the enormous dangers there are to human life. That is precisely what the expert advice has provided to the government and that is precisely what the expert advice has provided to the opposition. Now we have the Leader of the Opposition claiming that the expert advice of 800 transfers is just conjecture. The arrangement that has been publicly available is clear: Australia will transfer up to 800 people to Malaysia. The advice that the government has is that should the arrangement work, as the government expects it will, the deterrent effect of transferring people will be very strong and it would mean that the number may not be reached at all. That is the advice that has been provided to the opposition and, if the opposition do not want to follow that advice, that is a matter for them.