George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to this motion by the member for Melbourne this morning and, in doing so, question the motives behind this proposed Malaysian deal for asylum seekers and the outcomes. This government's border protection frenzy has become excruciating to watch—like a cross between a bizarre episode of The Amazing Race and a chicken with its head cut off.

There are stark similarities with the reality TV program. Just like The Amazing Race, this government jet sets its policy from one country to the next. We have seen the bungled attempt at using East Timor. We have seen Manus Island and PNG brought into the equation very briefly. Then we jumped on a jet to see if Malaysia could help get this Labor government's border protection right. Then Thailand and the South Sea islands have chimed in wanting a piece of the action, so bad for Australia was the proposed deal with Malaysia.

The key difference is that contestants on The Amazing Race do not know where they are going to finish, and it is not in Malaysia. The Malaysian deal is not a solution. Manus Island was not a solution. East Timor was not a solution. What we are seeing in Australian detention centres is not a solution. They are all just carriages on this train wreck that is the government's avoidance of the real solution to border protection. The Australian people know what the solution looks like. They have seen the Howard government effectively control our borders and achieve results. I believe, 'If it ain't broke don't fix it.' Unfortunately, that is not this government's approach to this policy. They tried to fix the perfectly-working solution and have been running around like headless chooks ever since in a desperate bid to find another solution that does not look like the old one. They cannot go back to the solution that worked; that would be to admit that they got it wrong.

If a real deal with Malaysia ever eventuates—and there is not yet a deal, according to Malaysia—it will be one of the greatest injustices ever thrust upon the Australian people and the asylum seekers at the centre of this malaise. To pack up the asylum seekers and transport them to a country that not only allows but regularly practices caning, contravenes the government's own stance. Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Even if a caning ban was written into this alleged agreement that would be no guarantee because caning is permissible under local laws in Malaysia. The PM cannot guarantee that asylum seekers would not be caned, mistreated or even tortured in Malaysia. She cannot make that guarantee. She might promise but we have seen how much a promise from the Prime Minister is worth with the carbon tax.

With a processing centre at Nauru, on the other hand, the Australian government can make that guarantee. Nauru may not be a signatory to the United Nations convention on refugees but it is willing to be. And, unlike Malaysia, it is a signatory to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civic and Political Rights. The solution was working at Nauru. The question is: why will the Prime Minister not pick up the phone to the President of Nauru? The answer to that is very simple: that would be an admission that this government got it wrong.

It was a wrong call on East Timor and a wrong call on Manus Island. It is a wrong call on Malaysia, unless you are on the Malaysian end of the deal. That is a deal of a lifetime. All Malaysia has to do is take in 800 asylum seekers from Australia and they can offload 4,000 of theirs. It is a great solution for Malaysia. What is more, the Australian government has kindly offered to pay for the whole deal. That makes it an even better solution for Malaysia. But for Australia it is a deal that stinks. It is a deal that is going to cost us an additional $1.7 billion, according to the budget papers. Malaysia is still holding the cards, because the Prime Minister is desperate to find some sort of solution. Malaysia will be holding all the aces in this deal. They will pick and choose which 800 asylum seekers they will take in. They will pick and choose which 4000 they send.

Our current detention centres are in a mess. We have violent riots and a cost blow-out of more than $3 billion. Our detention population is at record levels, more than 60 per cent of detainees having been there for more than six months and the average time spent in detention increasing from 61 days to more than 170 in that past three years. This is a government desperate for a deal.

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