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

I rise to say to the member for Denison, and more broadly to the House and the parliament, that the government will support the amendment moved by the member for Denison. The government will do that not because we agree with the member for Denison's reasoning as he has just outlined—we obviously take a very different view of the merits of the agreement with Malaysia and the merits of the government's approach. But that is as it may be, and people have contributed to this debate from a variety of perspectives. Many of them have said that over the past few months their views have changed. Many people have been on a journey where their views have become quite different from those they held six or 12 months ago. That is to be respected.

I respect the fact that the member for Denison has entered into this debate in a spirit of wanting to see something done, though he does have a different view from the government about what should be done. But the government will accept this amendment because we do not believe that there is anything to be feared by parliamentary scrutiny and parliamentary engagement in 12 months time. In 12 months time, after the sunset clause, this parliament and Australian people will have had the opportunity to see these policies in operation. They will be able to judge for themselves, and in those circumstances, next time we debate these issues in the House of Representatives, that debate will be held in circumstances where people will not make claims about these policies; they will be able to see their effects. Consequently, as a government that is seeking to implement change, we believe that there is nothing for us to be concerned about in parliamentary scrutiny in 12 months time.

I also think that that engagement with the parliament in 12 months time may give members who have expressed such goodwill in this debate a period of time in which they can work together and perhaps bring some of their own ideas to the table. Many have talked about the need for better regional processes, and we are very open to that discussion. Many have talked about the need for our great country to take more genuine refugees, to take people in greater numbers from offshore camps around the world. That is the position of the Labor Party. That is our platform position and it is something we have long been committed to. I anticipate that over the months in between, that discussion will be had in this parliament and will mature in this parliament as a result. So we will be supporting the member for Denison in this amendment and we thank him for his understanding about supporting the government's need to act in what are very difficult circumstances. I take this opportunity to thank the many members who have spoken in this debate today, some of them with very great emotion. I thank them for their contributions.

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