Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 239 standing in my name for today relating to the government's asylum seeker arrangement with Malaysia.

Leave granted.

I have circulated the amendment. It is a very small one. It makes the motion simpler. I move the amended motion as follows:

That the Senate—

  (a)   condemns the Gillard Government's deal with Malaysia that would see 800 asylum seekers intercepted in Australian waters and sent to Malaysia; and

  (b)   calls on the Government immediately to abandon this proposal.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy President. The coalition will be supporting this motion. The desperate deal announced by the Prime Minister shows that this government will pay any price and do any deal, no matter how one-sided, to avoid implementing the proven policies of the coalition. The deal that has been struck by the Prime Minister is a desperate stop-gap deal with Malaysia, with the use-by date of just 800 arrivals. At the current rate of arrivals this will last just a few months, with no renewal. The five-for-one swap proposed by the Prime Minister is a deal that shows that the Malaysians clearly saw the Prime Minister of Australia coming and shows just how politically desperate this government has become.

The Prime Minister's dealing in Asia shows that, under her prime ministership, Australia is now the junior partner in the region. Because of the Labor government's border protection policy failures Australia is now negotiating from a position of weakness. When you negotiate from a position of weakness you end up with a deal that has been struck—one which will in no way benefit Australia. This Malaysian deal is a panicked announcement from a government that is yet again proving it is directionless, untrustworthy and incompetent. The deal will cover about 12 boats and after that it will be back to business as usual under Labor because Labor have no permanent plans to deal with the mess they have created on our borders and in our detention centres.

The Prime Minister's announcement makes a mockery of the government's rejection of Nauru on the grounds that they are not a signatory to the UN convention on refugees, as Malaysia is also not a signatory. This government will adopt any excuse to avoid the proven policies of the coalition. If the Prime Minister wants to send a tough message to people smugglers, there is one thing and one thing alone that she can do: reinstate the policies of the Howard government. They worked and the statistics show that they were proven to work.

Question agreed to.