Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Hansard source

Labor is resolutely opposed to the use of temporary protection visas as a quick fix to deal with men and women and children who are currently awaiting processing in Australian funded facilities. Temporary protection visas simply place people in a prolonged state of limbo. They serve as a stopgap that keep people in a cycle of uncertainty. They prevent them from contributing to the community and forging proper links in Australia.

When the parliament, and particularly this chamber, rejected the immigration minister's policy of bringing back temporary protection visas in December last year, the minister, in an act of petulance, stopped processing people—yes, that is right, Minister; I see you are in the chamber. You are clearly here because you cannot trust your senators to do the government's dirty work! We all understand the protocols here, and that is essentially why you are here. I see you nodding vigorously there, but the fact remains that you acted in a completely petulant manner because this chamber chose to reject the policy position that you adopted.

Any claim that TPVs serve as a deterrent to people seeking to risk their lives coming to Australia by sea is simply wrong. Australia has in fact been taken off the table with the regional settlement arrangements, which were introduced by Labor in July last year. This issue has absolutely nothing to do with any person who may seek to come here by boat. It relates to people already in detention who arrived before 19 July last year. For that group of people, Labor believe we need to have a sensible policy that sees them processed and, if they are found to be genuine refugees, allowed to settle in Australia.