Bob Debus (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Will the minister provide the House with an update on the detention of Abraham Lauhenapessy?

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. Members may have seen media reports this morning to suggest that Abraham, or Captain Bram, as he is known—a person who is well-known to Indonesian and Australian authorities, a person who has previously been convicted of people-smuggling offences—had been detained by Indonesian authorities. I can confirm to the House that Indonesian authorities have advised Australian officials that Captain Bram has been detained and is currently under detention by Indonesian officials. The Australian government welcomes very much the detention and his arrest. He of course will now be subject to Indonesian criminal and judicial procedures, but this is potentially a very serious setback for people smugglers and people smuggling in our region and we welcome that.

This is but another example of the very close cooperation between Australian and Indonesian authorities and officials on this matter. That cooperation has been in hand for a number of years. Since coming to office the government has moved to increase and enhance the resources allocated to combating people smuggling. It has done so in conjunction with Indonesia but also, importantly, in conjunction with other countries in our region: Malaysia, a transit country, and of course Sri Lanka, where in recent times we have seen terrible civilian conflict. We are seeing very serious push factors emanating from Sri Lanka.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What about the pull factors?

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We welcome very much the activities of the Indonesian authorities. We continue to work cooperatively with them. In addition to the detention of Captain Bram, we have seen over the last two to three years Indonesia disrupt in the order of 80 people-smuggling plans, very many of which were aimed at Australia. We have been working very hard in cooperation with the Indonesian authorities and, as I said, we have extended that cooperation to Malaysia and Sri Lanka. We have deployed extra resources in the last budget to that effect.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also think it is appropriate to complement the work of the Australian Federal Police. It has not just been the Indonesian authorities working very hard in this area but also the Australian Federal Police, who in recent times have seen the arrest and charging of over 40 people smugglers, crew members trying to bring unlawful people to Australia. We have also seen four people in Australia arrested and charged on people-smuggling activities.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Dr Stone interjecting

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have had a number of interjections from the other side which I will deal with in conclusion. I just want to make a number of points. I think there are three very important factors that we should focus on when dealing with these complex and difficult matters. The first is to appreciate the push factors which see somewhere between 40 million and 42 million people displaced throughout the world, about a third of which are estimated to be in or around our region. So this is not a difficulty or a problem which is exclusively aimed at Australia or Indonesia or Sri Lanka or Thailand. This is a global problem. It has very serious regional implications. We see the push factors from Afghanistan, from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and also from Sri Lanka. As a consequence there is only one effective address to that, and that is to work very closely with our neighbours, to work very closely with source countries like Sri Lanka and transit countries like Malaysia and Indonesia and also to draw the attention very clearly of people who in many respects are the most disadvantaged in our region to the risks and the dangers of putting their lives in the hands of criminals.

I have had interjections from the other side which have essentially been: ‘What about the pull factors as a result of the changes that you have made?’ I just say to the opposition, to the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues who sit there: you say that as a consequence of us making changes there has been the introduction of pull factors, so just tell us which of those changes you would reverse? Would you see kids behind barbed wire again? Would you put children behind barbed wire again? Would you reintroduce the Pacific solution, where processing is done on Manus Island and Nauru? Would you say it is appropriate that we discharge our international and humanitarian and legal obligations in accordance with the refugee convention by processing people on Manus Island and Nauru? Or would you reintroduce temporary protection visas, after the introduction of which we saw 10,000 people come to Australia as asylum seekers? If you stand there and say that the sum total of your argument is to identify and look at changes the government has made in processing people who come to this country, just tell us which ones you would reintroduce. Putting the kids back behind the barbed wire? Introducing temporary protection visas? Or seeking to somehow discharge our humanitarian and legal obligations by processing people in Manus Island or Nauru?