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

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Lundy. Before I ask the question, though, I would acknowledge on behalf of the Greens the tragedy that has occurred off our shores and the lives lost, and also acknowledge the efforts of the rescue personnel.

I move to the question: does the minister agree with Amnesty International and the UNHCR in their calls for all countries in the region, including Australia, to redouble their efforts to find a regional solution, to find safe pathways for asylum seekers and to offer better protection to asylum seekers?

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government's attention remains fully focused on the welfare of the survivors from this terrible boat tragedy, and I too acknowledge those who are assisting with the rescue and express my empathy for those families that are suffering.

Late last year the government approached the coalition in good faith to sit down to negotiate a compromise and to discuss what we could do to stop the flow of boats and save lives. We offered to set up a processing centre on Nauru as well implementing the Malaysia arrangement and an independent review into the effectiveness of temporary protection visas. That offer remains.

As the government has said countless times, without a genuine deterrent more people will risk their lives at sea on dangerous boat journeys. The government remains committed to implementing policies that will save lives and deliver a safer and more orderly refugee system for Australia. We remain prepared to work with the coalition and the Greens to see offshore-processing legislation pass through the parliament and prevent asylum seeker deaths at sea.

As things stand, there is a consensus in the parliament that, following the High Court decision last year, offshore processing is not possible without legislation. Mr Abbott, the Leader of the Opposition, has eventually come around to that way of thinking, which is why he outlined border protection legislation as a priority for a coalition government during this year's budget reply speech. There is also a consensus across the parliament on the need for offshore processing. We note the positive comments of Dr Mal Washer, Russell Broadbent and Judi Moylan, and the push for compromise and bipartisanship. We hope this spirit prevails.

We also welcome the comments of Mr Oakeshott— (Time expired)

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

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I ask the minister further: since offshore processing is contrary to international law, does it undermine regional cooperation and discourage other countries from signing the refugee convention if Australian is seen to be abandoning it?

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not accept the premise of that question, and I would like to point out that, as I was saying, we also welcome the comments of Mr Oakeshott and Mr Windsor about ending the impasse over offshore-processing legislation so we can implement an effective deterrent to prevent asylum seekers from risking their lives on dangerous boat journeys to Australia.

There is legislation currently before the parliament that would allow both the coalition and Labor to implement both our offshore-processing policies. We are not asking Mr Abbott to support the Malaysian arrangement, but we are, and we have been, asking him to support legislation on offshore processing. But without offshore-processing legislation there will be no guarantee that the tragedy we saw over the last week will not happen again.

It is extremely concerning, but we do know the opportunity for making real progress on this issue stands alive and well. It is up to the coalition to come to the talking— (Time expired)

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

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Further to the UNHCR call for safe pathways, I would ask the minister: do safe pathways include the same application of safety-of-life-at-sea principles and actions as would apply to all other vessels at sea?

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course Australia remains committed to all of our obligations in that regard. I can assure the Senate that the government is focused on supporting the whole-of-government efforts to combat people-smuggling activity and irregular people movement, and is collaborating across the region on immigration matters at both the operational and technical levels and on ongoing work to increase protection space in our region.

As Senator Milne would be aware, Australia is co-chair with Indonesia of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime. The Bali Process is the only grouping in the Asia-Pacific region that brings together representatives from source, transit and destination countries to address irregular migration. As I said before, this is a process we are committed to and we encourage all parties to continue an open negotiation with government to resolve this matter once and for all.