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

I thank the honourable member for his question. I am sure the whole House would like to thank Angus Houston, Michael L'Estrange and Paris Aristotle for their fine work and their very thorough report—three men with very different backgrounds but with one common objective: to find a way to save lives. And, just as the Prime Minister and the government hoped when this report was commissioned, this expert panel of non-political, eminent Australians has presented a new way forward. It presents a new opportunity for this House and, importantly, for the other house to stop the flow of boats and to stop people dying at sea. The time for action was long ago but certainly cannot be delayed any further.

Saving lives has been what this is all about. Nobody could stand at the memorials at Christmas Island, as I and other members have done, and look at those memorials and not be moved to act about the loss of life. Nobody could talk to somebody who has lost their children in a boat tragedy or talked to a child who has lost their parent and not be committed to doing everything possible to save lives at sea.

We want to give more vulnerable people, more persecuted people, the chance of a new life in Australia. Australia already takes more processed refugees than any other country in the world bar the United States and Canada, and our move to increase our resettlement program to 20,000 will mean that we are the second biggest recipient of refugees in the world—a very good thing. But the Australian people rightly want a fairer system and a safer system in providing haven to the world's refugees.

The underlying thesis of this report, as the Prime Minister has said, is that people who arrive in Australia by boat should not be advantaged in their efforts to seek resettlement. Now, that is controversial, but in my view it meets the test of common sense and it meets the test of fairness. I do not think this House or the other house should take the view that people who arrive by boat should be advantaged over those in camps in difficult situations around the world, wanting the chance of a resettlement place in Australia.

It is unacceptable to do nothing. We have to accept this advice and act in the national interest today. And that is why I will move these amendments this afternoon. We would appreciate the assistance of the opposition in their passage through this House and the other house. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and we will look to get on with the job not only of implementing the panel's recommendations of increasing the refugee intake and of centres on Nauru and PNG, but also of implementing the arrangement with Malaysia, as recommended. We cannot let this opportunity pass. The Australian people expect no less— (Time expired)

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