Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I do not accept the premise of that question, and I would like to point out that, as I was saying, we also welcome the comments of Mr Oakeshott and Mr Windsor about ending the impasse over offshore-processing legislation so we can implement an effective deterrent to prevent asylum seekers from risking their lives on dangerous boat journeys to Australia.

There is legislation currently before the parliament that would allow both the coalition and Labor to implement both our offshore-processing policies. We are not asking Mr Abbott to support the Malaysian arrangement, but we are, and we have been, asking him to support legislation on offshore processing. But without offshore-processing legislation there will be no guarantee that the tragedy we saw over the last week will not happen again.

It is extremely concerning, but we do know the opportunity for making real progress on this issue stands alive and well. It is up to the coalition to come to the talking— (Time expired)