Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

My recollection is that the quote that the shadow minister is using is a statement that I made when I was asked about the selection of people under the humanitarian intake to come here, but I am happy to describe both parts of the arrangement. As I was saying before the Leader of the Opposition took his point of order, in terms of our increased humanitarian intake, the shadow minister would be aware that we take humanitarian intake from around the world. We have processes to do that. We are looking to increase our humanitarian intake. I know that there are some days when the opposition opposes that; there are some days when they are prepared, in pursuit of political deals, to offer to double the humanitarian quota, with the $3 billion cost that that would imply. That was the approach taken by the Leader of the Opposition in the lead-up to government being formed.

On the issue of the asylum seekers to be returned, we are working with Malaysia on the transfer agreement. Its aim is to break the people-smugglers' business model. As I have said to his House before, I am not ruling in or ruling out arrangements in relation to that 800. But the message to people-smugglers is clear: if you risk coming here on a boat then the risk that you run is that will end up in Malaysia at the back of the queue. I say to the opposition that there does come a point at which their playing of politics with this is genuinely destructive to the national interest. They ought to contemplate what they are doing as they approach that point.

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