David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

His so-called solution was to do what he now calls a 'people swap' with Pakistan or Iran. Pakistan is not a signatory to the convention. Iran might be a signatory to the convention, but the member for Curtin, who just had a bit to say in this debate, said at the beginning of last year:

Iran continues to face domestic turmoil with ongoing security crackdowns on political dissent and reports that thousands of citizens have been detained while the media has been greatly restricted.

So Malaysia is such a terrible place and this arrangement is such an outrageous arrangement that they would be prepared to come into this place and strip the executive government of the power that it needs to act decisively on this matter, but they would be happy to see a similar arrangement entered into with Pakistan or Iran. These are the people who come into this place day after day talking about mandates. Well, an overwhelming majority of the members elected to this place went to the last election wanting to introduce offshore processing. Indeed, each and every one of them not only wanted to introduce offshore processing; they wanted to introduce offshore processing in a country that was not a signatory to the convention. So do not come into this place and lecture us about the human rights side of this debate.

We as a government believe that it is entirely appropriate for executive government to act to try and provide the disincentives that will stop people from hopping on boats and taking that treacherous journey . We think that that is important. We believe that the Malaysian arrangement will work. If those on the other side are serious about their obligations to serve their communities, to serve this country and to serve the national interest, then they should ensure that the legislation is amended to give effect to what they sought to put in place when they were in government, what this government needs to be put in place so that we can achieve the outcomes that we want, and what any future government will need if they are to effectively tackle this question of irregular movements of people in our region. (Time expired)

See this speech in context