Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I am sorry, Senator. One of your colleagues has asked a question and, with respect, I am trying to answer her question, not yours.

Senator Crossin, you asked if I agreed with a portion of the report, which I assume you quoted directly but you may have paraphrased. In any event, I do not agree with that conclusion. I will say a little on the issue you mentioned of whether this is an appropriate response to a foreign policy concern. I indicated in this chamber yesterday that any government has a range of responsibilities that have to be balanced. One of them, of course, is as a signatory to a UN convention. We have to live up to the requirements of that convention. It is well understood that the convention does not say that someone who is seeking protection has a right to where their claim will be heard, nor do they have a right to assert where the protection will be offered. What we are proposing with this bill—