Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Evans. What will be the cost of the Prime Minister’s ‘Indonesian solution’? Is it $50 million, or is this just the starting point?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Fierravanti-Wells for the question, but there will be no chocolates today! The start of the ‘Indonesian solution’, if you want to describe it as that, was probably taken by John Howard in about 2002. In terms of expenditure already, certainly the construction of the new detention centre that the previous government authorised and funded was about $7 million—

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Which you opposed.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, that is not right, actually, Senator. That cost about $7 million. The Australian government has, for many years now, helped support proper processing of asylum-seeking claims in Indonesia. We have funded the UNHCR in its work in making the assessments and we have funded the international office of migration in supporting asylum seekers and caring for them during those processes. Those arrangements, as I say, were put in place during the first decade of this century by the Howard government. This government has looked to provide additional support for the UNHCR. We have increased funding to the UNHCR. We have increased funding for the international office of migration in order to provide more care for those seeking asylum in Indonesia and we have also helped fund some staff and training requirements to make the centre that was funded under the Howard government operational, to try and improve the skills of those in charge of the centre and to support their staffing needs.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. I did not ask the minister for a history lesson; I asked him a specific question—that is, on the Prime Minister’s Indonesian solution. Is the $50 million just the starting point or is that the cost of the package? It was a very specific question.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! You have 24 seconds remaining, Senator Evans. I draw your attention to the question.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. The point I am making is that our engagement with Indonesia on these matters is longstanding and that funding of these measures has been going for many years under successive governments. If the senator’s reference is to media reports of a figure of $50 million, we made clear that there were ongoing negotiations with the Indonesian government about measures under a new framework under the Lombok treaty. (Time expired)

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Given that the minister stated in a speech on 29 July 2008 announcing Labor’s New Direction in Detention, ‘Labor’s detention values explicitly ban the detention of children in immigration detention centres,’ will this value now apply to Labor’s Indonesian solution?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to know that suddenly the Liberal Party are interested in the care of people in detention. This is a welcome development. I welcome it and I also welcome concern for children in detention. It has not been reflected in your contributions to debates this week, but I do welcome it. It is true that in 2005 John Howard was forced to modify his policies in relation to children in detention. Under pressure from some Liberal backbenchers, who deserve great credit for it, he moved away from the detention of children.

The government have made it absolutely clear that we do not support the detention of children, so we have made measures to try and ensure that they are cared for properly and that we run policies and values in detention that better reflect Australian values. We would encourage all our neighbours to do similarly.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Minister, reports have emerged of overcrowding and abuse within Indonesian detention facilities. What assurances has the Prime Minister received from the Indonesian government that Australian funded Indonesian detention facilities meet appropriate international standards?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In terms of what arrangements the former Howard government made when commissioning the building as to whether it met appropriate standards, I will have to take that on notice. I will go back in the files and examine what arrangements were made by the Howard government when they authorised the construction.

My understanding is that the detention centre in question currently has 80 or 90 detainees and has capacity for about 600, so it is not overcrowded and there is remaining capacity. But we have encouraged the Indonesians to provide accommodation for families outside the detention centre. Their usual practice is to do so, and we have encouraged them to provide alternative accommodation for families seeking asylum. We do note that, despite not being signatories to the convention, Indonesia’s record on nonrefoulement is excellent. (Time expired)