Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

Last night I issued a statement about that matter. I made it very clear in that statement that the place of rescue, where the passengers were rescued, was closer to Indonesia than it was to Australia. We therefore sought to take those rescued passengers, in accordance with international search and rescue protocols, to the nearest place of safety, which was Indonesia, not Australia. That is the practice we have been following and that is the practice that has proved effective on many occasions.

But these are matters which we continue to work through with the Indonesian government, who are a strong partner. I want to stress how strong a partner they are. The cooperation that we receive from Indonesia and the strong leadership they show, particularly on on-land disruptions in Indonesia, has been extraordinary, because it has been that leadership from Indonesia, working together through our government and through the Bali process that has meant that we now know that more people are being stopped from coming to Australia under sovereign borders than are arriving. That is why we are having success.

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