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

I thank the member for Macquarie for her question. I say to the member for Macquarie: the arrangement we have entered into with Malaysia is for the transfer of 800 people. The arrangement remains for the transfer of 800 people. We have the clearest possible advice from the experts that advise government that it is the plan with the maximum deterrence effect.

The member for Macquarie may want to come to a different policy conclusion. That is a matter for her as a member of the House of Representatives. But, if the policy conclusion she comes to is that she would prefer to see asylum seeker processing on Nauru, she would need to directly confront the question: what are the implications of the High Court case?

The implications of the High Court case are that she could not make that decision without it being the subject of a great deal of legal doubt and she certainly could not start transferring unaccompanied minors to Nauru. The Solicitor-General's advice about the High Court case is crystal clear on that.

See this speech in context