Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

What I can draw Senator Macdonald's attention to is—and I am not quite sure what the nature of the question was—is the fact that the government will be working with the government of Malaysia to ensure that we are able to treat people properly and, as the UNHCR has indicated, that the nature of this agreement, a bilateral agreement, has been negotiated within the broader regional context with the involve­ment of the UNHCR and with the involve­ment of the International Organi­sation for Migration. This is the first time this has happened with respect to Malaysia and we hope that there will be other important actors as well, which will include non-government organisations. So there is a real opportunity here, an opportunity to deal with these issues in a humane and fair but firm way to ensure that the agreement between this government and other countries involved in refugee issues are treated properly. (Time expired)