Hanson-Young, Sen Sarah

Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia) (14:23): My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Carr. My question relates to comments made by Minister Bowen back in August 2006. He told the House: We say that asylum seekers should be treated the same regardless of how they land. We say they should be dealt with fairly, swiftly and on Australian soil. Now we have Mr Abbott and the opposition pushing for any third country to be a signatory to the refugee convention, although of course in 2001 Nauru was not one. They worry about protections, yet are happy to send people back to sea. When will the government accept that the Australian people want to see genuine leadership and want an end to this rank hypocrisy?