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

The shadow Attorney-General said on radio:

No, let … let me … let me put this in my own words: that if Nauru were to make itself compliant with all its obligations under Section 198—sorry, under the UN Refugee Convention and Section 198a of the Australian Migration Act—then the Nauru solution would work. But I do acknowledge that there is a sufficient area of doubt that it would be prudent and desirable to put the matter beyond doubt by legislative change.

I frequently do not agree with the shadow Attorney-General, but I do agree with that. The proposition that will come before this parliament is a proposition about amending the Migration Act. We have a view about Malaysia. The opposition has a view about Nauru. That is as it may be, but the proposition that will come before the parliament, in the words of Senator Brandis, is a proposition that would be prudent to pass even if the eventual aim was processing in Nauru. That is what the Leader of the Opposition needs to consider. I thank the Leader of the Opposition for meeting with me today and I thank him for indicating that the opposition is considering the amendments that have been provided to them today.

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