Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:06): Can I say to the shadow minister, the objective of the government, and I hope it is shared as an objective of this parliament, is absolutely clear. It has been clear over a long period of time now, clear over many long months. That objective has been that we should take the most effective action possible to deter people from getting on leaky boats and from potentially risking their lives. We should take the most effective action possible to deter people from putting themselves in the hands of people smugglers who are seeking to profit from their misery. Our objective has been over many long months—apart from sending the most effective message of deterrence—that in designing a policy we should make sure that we are doing our best to protect Australia's borders but that, at the same time, we are doing our best to protect the values that Australians hold dear. And so at every stage the government has worked for effective deterrence and border protection coupled with honouring our obligations under the refugee convention. So when we entered into discussions with Malaysia, because we were advised and properly saw this as the most effective deterrence measure, we did it on the basis that our nation would always honour our obligations under the refugee convention. At its heart, the refugee convention is about not returning people to places where they would be persecuted, and the arrangement with Malaysia ensures that. It is also about making sure that people can have their claims processed, and the arrangement with Malaysia ensures that. It also goes through and ensures that people will have identification papers, that they would not be subject to the sanctions on illegal migrants, that they would have access to education and the ability to seek work. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has indicated that they are prepared to work on the implementation of this arrangement. That is because we have worked on this arrangement as a part of a regional solution, firstly, going to the big regional meeting in Bali to work on a regional framework, and that was agreed. Then this is the bilateral arrangement under the auspices of that framework. At the same time, in honouring our refugee conventions in this arrangement, we have ensured that we would extend our compassion to 4,000 more genuine refugees, people who are in Malaysia and have been there for years. I was asked about the government's objective. Mr MORRISON: Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. My question went to what the Prime Minister describes the significant changes between last Friday and Monday and she is not addressing what has changed between last Friday and Monday. The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Cook should be reminded that his question went beyond that, which is not very helpful. The Prime Minister is responding to the question. Ms GILLARD: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I was explaining what the government has always sought to achieve here. Then, when the High Court made its decision, which was unexpected, the government still seeks to achieve the same objectives that it wanted to achieve from the start. That now requires us to legislate and to amend the Migration Act to put beyond doubt that the executive government has the power to implement offshore processing arrangements. Now, there is inevitably more than one way to draft a set of amendments. When the opposition was briefed on Friday a draft set of amendments was provided, and when they were provided in the discussion in the meeting it was clear that there was more than one way of achieving this objective. The Leader of the Opposition expressed concern about some matters. In the new draft I believe he will see additional clarity on the matters about which he expressed concern. The Leader of the Opposition has said to me that he will now consider those amendments and I believe that to be highly appropriate.