Coalition says deterrence is key to breaking people smugglers

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Created on Friday, 19 October 2012 15:29

Written by Editorial staff

Under a Coalition government, boat people would expect to spend up to five years on Nauru in a bid to deter asylum seekers from arriving in Australian waters.

Given the mass entrances since the Houston panel handed down its report, the opposition feels that harsh deterrents are the solution, given that the Gillard government's policies have failed to make a dent in the number of arrivals. 

The Australian reports that shadow spokesperson for immigration and citizenship Scott Morrison feels the government isn't delivering practical solutions to this ever growing problem and that it's failed to assert itself from the "UNHCR-dominated" (United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees). As a result, terms such as 'regional cooperation frameworks' arise and there is a lack of meaning..

"You try and talk to the UNHCR or the government on this and say, 'Tell me what the regional protection framework is. How does it work? What is it?' and they can't answer the question because it's just another multilateral phrase dreamed up to hold yet another talk about something that is never going to amount to anything," he said.

He asserts that the government is failing to balance democratic cooperation with proper assertive strategies and as a result, the taxpayer is forking out billions to house people who arrived in Australia without immigration visas or any proper legal documentation.

In his Jakarta meetings, Scott Morrison said that deterrence was the main point that he raised with relevant Indonesian ministers on his recent visit and that the Bali process should organise itself around this main idea of preemptive action.

The foreign editor of The Australian, Greg Sheridan, told Macquarie Radio's Ray Hadley that despite the government's insistence that the meetings between Indonesian ministers and Coalition frontbenchers is quite normal - and is a major coup.

He says that very rarely do opposition MPs travel for discussion which resemble official visits by government ministers and prime ministers.

It comes as Chris Bowen admitted that establishing Nauru as an offshore processing centre will not be enough to deter the influx of illegal boat arrivals.

The Australian Associated Press reports that the minister for immigration and citizenship said that it was a part of a wider policy to deter the arrivals, which included the Malaysia swap deal.

That particular arrangement was ruled invalid by the High Court in 2011.