Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I note the minister did not say whether the policy is to now redefine 'refugee' for the purposes of taking a new policy to the region. Given that 90 per cent of asylum seekers have been found to be genuine refugees, what evidence, Minister, do you have that Hazaras who arrive by boat are not being persecuted by the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan and are economic migrants, as you tried to claim last night? Are those Hazaras persecuted by the Taliban and are they economic migrants?