Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

We have seen examples in the past of where people jumped to conclusions about how things may have occurred on the high seas. And we have seen in the past some people try and take or make political advantage of that domestically in Australia—off the backs of the most vulnerable people that we have seen, off the backs of those people at risk on the high seas, off the backs of those people who rely upon not just Australia but other nation states to discharge their obligations for search and rescue on the high seas. The request came from Indonesian search and rescue authorities for Australia to assist.

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