Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Will the government acknow­ledge that the asylum-seeker policies it has pursued for the last three years have encouraged the people smugglers and have manifestly failed; that those failed policies have encouraged thousands of people to queue-jump to try to reach this country illegally at great risk to their lives; and that those failed policies have resulted in a hugely expanded onshore detention system which is now bursting at the seams and has become the scene of riots and mayhem? Will the government now apologise to the Australian people for its failure of leadership in dealing with this issue?

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

The simple answer is no. There is no doubt that we face a range of challenges in relation to unlawful people movement through the region. This is a problem that Australia shares in the region with countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, and it is something that we have resolved to tackle in a regional context because we know that we have to work together to address these issues. It was a lesson that the previous government learnt as well about needing regional cooperation in order to deal with these issues.

I note in passing that this is a now huge issue around the world. We are seeing Europe responding to large numbers of people fleeing North Africa; in fact, people are demanding a review of the EU arrangements in terms of border control. There are huge issues in the United States and Canada. Unauthorised people movement and people seeking asylum is a huge issue for our century as transportation becomes more available.

So I do not accept the proposition that was put by Senator Abetz. The government is working with countries in the region to try and address the challenge of unlawful movement. We do have a huge issue in that many people are seeking refuge and fleeing persecution, and we as a region have to work to tackle those challenges. A lot of work has been done in recent times through the Bali process, which we have reinvigorated with Indonesia, and the announcement the other day regarding a framework of cooperation with Malaysia is part of that regional response to an issue we are all dealing with.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Didn't the minister himself rule out ever reopening the detention centre on Manus Island, saying it would be a return to the failed strategy of the Pacific solution, which he also said was a cynical, costly and ultimately unsuccessful exercise? Now that the government is seeking to reopen Manus Island and enter a stopgap, one-for-five refugee swap with Malaysia, will the minister concede that he was wrong and that his failed policies have been a costly mistake?

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

I certainly stand by my critique of the Pacific solution. I think it was cynical, and it was costly. It is worth remembering that the people who were subject to the Pacific solution are now settled in Australia and New Zealand; the vast majority have settled here or in New Zealand. The Howard government did a deal with New Zealand to take a large number of people off the island of Nauru in order to have political cover for the fact that the Pacific solution had failed; it was cynical, it was costly and the reality is that people were resettled in Australia. The Howard government did not like to front up to that, they did not like to publicise that, but the reality is that those people were settled in Australia. So the Pacific solution was no solution. We need regional cooperation, we need the support of our neighbours, and that is what this government is focused on. (Time expired)

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In view of the government's failed and chaotic approach on border protection, does the government still intend to proceed with opening its detention centre at Pontville in Tasmania? If so, will the minister confirm that Pontville will only operate for six months, as promised and, if so, when will this six-month period commence?

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

I am advised that the claims that Senator Abetz has been making around the Pontville-Brighton detention centre proposal are not correct. The government's commitment is to a short-term facility at Pontville. The immigration department is currently concluding relevant discussions around approval processes before further building and development of the site—which, as you know, is a former Army barracks—can continue.