Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen today announced that the Government will introduce legislation to enable the transfer of irregular maritime arrivals to third countries for the processing of their asylum claims.
The amendments will restore the understanding of the third country transfer provisions of the Migration Act that existed prior to the High Court's decision on 31 August 2011.
They will ensure the government of the day can determine the border protection policy that it believes is in the best interests of the nation.
Legal advice has made it clear that the High Court's reasoning would also likely preclude transfers to third countries such as Nauru or Papua New Guinea under the current legislation.
The amendments will ensure the executive is able to fulfil its role of managing an orderly migration program by putting beyond doubt the meaning of the relevant legislative provisions.
The Government's amendments will make absolutely clear Parliament's intention to provide the government of the day with the ability to control Australia's borders by transferring asylum seekers arriving at excised offshore places to third countries.
The amendments will ensure appropriate public accountability from the Minister for any transfer arrangements that are entered into.
The Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act will also be amended to enable decisions to be made with respect to minors.
These amendments will provide for the Government to proceed with transfers under the Arrangement with Malaysia and the Memorandum of Understanding with Papua New Guinea.
The Government remains fully committed to the Malaysia Arrangement, which, in combination with the proposed assessment centre at Manus Island, provides a genuinely effective plan to remove the product people smugglers are able to sell.
The Arrangement with Malaysia, the first under the Regional Co-operation Framework, provides an opportunity to improve protection outcomes for refugees in the region at the same time as reducing people smuggling activity.
The Government also remains committed to increasing the humanitarian program to 14,750 places per year, should the amendments pass the Parliament and transfers to Malaysia proceed.
The Government intends to introduce the amending legislation into Parliament next week.