Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Hansard source

I do not have them immediately to hand, Senator Humphries, but I will make some inquiries and see what I can find out for you in that regard. We know from all of the expert advice that we have received that the Nauru solution is expensive. More importantly, it will not work. Whatever the cost might be—put the cost factor aside for a moment; put that $1 billion aside, Senator Humphries—we know that it will not work. It will no longer act as a deterrent because what the people smugglers know is that if they can get to Nauru it is just a stopping off point on the way to Australia. It is a bit like the Qantas dispute on the weekend: if you want to come from Adelaide to Canberra, you might have to go via Melbourne but you will get to your destination. That is how the people smugglers think of the Nauru solution.

This government has a solution, and one that provides a great deal of compassion. Part of that proposal is to bring 4,000 genuine refugees—