Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

The government is taking action recommended by a panel of experts. The government has agreed in principle, as the opposition well knows, to implement all 22 recommendations of the expert panel report on asylum seekers. This is how responsible governments develop policy: by listening to the advice of experts. Those recommendations included regional processing in Nauru and PNG as soon as practical, and the government believes that the measures it is putting in place, as recommended by the expert panel, will be effective. The combination of an increased refugee intake from offshore and no advantage for those who arrive by boat removes the attractiveness of attempting the expensive and dangerous boat journey to Australia.

However, it is important for those opposite to be reminded that the expert panel does not recommend temporary protection visas, a measure that in the past saw 68 per cent of refugees permanently remaining in Australia. It also makes clear that tow-backs create a risk to the lives of Australian Defence Force personnel, and would only ever work with agreement with other countries—something Indonesia has said will not happen. We are faced with opposition for opposition's sake.

The government, in contrast, is attempting to take the politics out of this issue, putting in place the very important principle behind this policy, which is saving lives. Those opposite have made a different choice. They choose to insert the politics into this challenging policy question and the objective of saving the lives of people in quite desperate circumstances at sea, and I condemn them for that.