Sean Edwards (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to take note of the answers given by Senator Carr to questions asked by Senator Ronaldson and Senator Cash. Indeed, this Malaysian swap deal has some very serious problems. There has been policy catch-up ever since 2007. Despite all the promises made by Kevin Rudd prior to that election, it has been policy catch-up ever since. From the outset, adequate protections were not put in place. It has been like a rabbit in the headlights. We have been jerked from East Timor to Papua New Guinea and to Manus Island.

Today, we have heard that the Malaysian agreement is not even binding, that it is only an intention and that the proper protections are in place. However, it is not legally bind­ing. So the government cannot even guar­antee that sufficient safeguards will be in place for asylum seekers that they plan to dump in Malaysia. Minister Carr evaded the question; in fact he gave a lesson in speaking without answering the question. He did not even address clause 16. Clause 16 says that it is not a legally binding agreement on the parties. This is yet another half-baked idea the Gillard government can add to its long list of policy disasters: the carbon tax, the live cattle export ban, the pink batts, cash for clunkers, GroceryWatch, school halls et cetera.

People smuggling is a business flourishing in the offshore countries because Labor is handcuffed to the Greens. Why don't you sort the policy out with the Greens whom you are handcuffed to on this issue? On this side, we have a plan, a plan that has been proven to work. In fact, the Australian people re-elected the Howard government in 2004 on the plan of managed asylum seeker migration. Why is this government wasting time and taxpayers' dollars when there is already a proven plan? We would restore temporary protection visas and the proc­essing centre on Nauru. Have some back­bone. Minister Carr said 'jellybacks'. Talk about the pot calling the kettle grimy bottom.

We need to turn those boats around when circumstances permit. Do you know what message that sends to the people who are in the business of people smuggling? The message will be very quick: they cannot bring people to this country because there is a threat that they will be towed back. It does not mean that they will be towed back; it means that they know that they will be towed back and that threat is imminent. It will destroy their business plan. They do not have any authority to say that those people will be able to get here and the wealthy asylum seekers will not be able to queue jump those people legitimately seeking to come to this country.

Nauru is a signatory to the UN convention on refugees and this will take effect later this month. Nauru will introduce domestic laws that will give support to the protections and obligations it has signed up to. Nauru is not signing up for a five-for-one swap. We must stop the boats. Nauru is not the answer on its own; it involves a range of measures that the coalition will put in place to strengthen our borders—which Labor have continued to weaken.

Do we really want to send asylum seekers to a country where almost 30,000 people were caned over a five-year period up to 2010? Do we really want to send children to a place where they will be denied access to public schools, where there is only one clinic funded by the UNHCR that is shared with 94,000 refugees and countless more asylum seekers? No. This government is a policy vacuum on managing our borders. It is cruel and over 400 have perished. If four per cent of people died every time they got onto an aeroplane every morning in this country there would be outrage. This is an outrage.

Question agreed to.