Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—The suspension of processing of asylum by Afghan and Sri Lankan citizens does not breach Australia’s international obligations. Having sought and obtained legal advice, the government is satisfied, in particular, that the suspension does not breach either the Racial Discrimination Act or the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The suspension is being applied to asylum claims by Sri Lankan and Afghan nationals for reasons that have nothing to do with race. The reasons for the suspension relate wholly to the objective country circumstances in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

Suspending the making of refugee status assessments for a time is not prohibited by the refugee convention. There is no provision of the convention that requires countries to establish any particular procedure for assessing refugee claims or that requires assessments to be conducted in any particular time frame. Upon lifting of the suspensions, refugee status assessment will be conducted in the usual way, and persons determined to be refugees as a result will be given protection in accordance with the provisions of the convention. The best interests of children are a primary consideration under the Rudd Labor government. It has been a long-held Labor policy that children will not be held in immigration detention centres. Upon coming to government, Labor has acted on this promise.