Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

There is something ironic about the Leader of the Opposition proposing a matter of public importance on border protection the day after he decided to put his own short-term political interests ahead of the national interest on border protection—the day after he decided it was more important to care about what he assesses is in the best political interest of the Liberal and National parties, ahead of what is the best policy to stop people making the dangerous boat journey to Australia, the best policy to get a proper regional framework and the best policy to see more people resettled in Australia.

The Australian people expect our political parties to have robust debates. They expect a full contest of ideas. They expect the Australian political parties to be very forthright in putting forward views and having different views. That is how the Australian political system has always worked. But they also expect that, where political parties agree on objectives and principles, they put aside partisan difference and work together in the national interest. It is in the national interest that we do not have people risking their lives to get to Australia by boat. It is in the national interest that we never again have to go through what we have been through as a nation. It is in the national interest that we have offshore processing as part of a properly developed regional framework. Sometimes it is hard to bridge the partisan divide; sometimes the gulf is just too big; sometimes the differences are just too fundamental—and that is appropriate, but this should not be one of those times.

From the beginning, the government tried to make it easy for the opposition. From the beginning, the government tried to give the opposition a pathway. We made it clear that we would not ask the Liberal Party to support the Malaysian agreement, that we would not ask the Liberal Party to endorse it and that we would not hold them accountable for results—that we would be held accountable for the results. All we put to the Liberal Party was that the government of the day, whether it be a Labor government or a coalition government, should have the opportunity to implement its policies, and the Leader of the Opposition agreed. He went out and said, 'I think the government of the day should have the right to implement its policies, and I would work with the government to achieve it.' I am not sure what happened after that, but what happened was a very significant change.

We tried to make it easy for the opposition. We said that clearly, in our view, it was important to change the law to enable the Malaysia arrangement and enable offshore processing in Papua New Guinea and enable it in Nauru, despite us feeling that it would not be an appropriate policy, but we recognise that if the Liberal and National parties were ever elected as the government of this nation they should have the right to implement that policy and they should be clear in the law.

Mr Briggs interjecting—

They say that they will, but what they do not recognise is the legal consensus that shows that the legislation should be changed to enable it to happen.

Mr Briggs interjecting—

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