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Australia will no longer passively accept the arrival of asylum-seeker boats from Indonesia if Tony Abbott has his way.
The Opposition Leader is determined to impose a new and tougher policy whereby Australia uses its navy to secure its borders.
If
elected prime minister, Mr Abbott will tell Jakarta Australia will no
longer passively accept the arrival of asylum-seeker boats from that
country, The Australian reported last night.
A radical policy departure, this has far-reaching and unpredictable consequences for Australia-Indonesia relations.
In recent talks with his colleagues, Mr Abbott said: "This is a test of wills and Australia has lost.
"What counts is what the Australian government does, not what it says.
"It is time for Australia to adopt turning the boats as its core policy."
Mr
Abbott said this would involve an increase in the number of naval
vessels to force the boats back, including the capacity to remove
asylum-seekers from deliberately sabotaged boats before repairing those
vessels to enable the boat people to be returned to Indonesia.
The
Coalition has also ruled out a political deal to revive Labour's
Malaysia Solution and is planning a tougher regimen of temporary
protection visas.
This includes a quota on the number of
permanent visas issued to temporary protection visa holders to favour
authorised asylum-seekers and to provide a disincentive to people making
the journey by boat.
The Australian Greens have described the concept as "illegal and immoral".
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the idea overrides Australia's international obligations under the refugee convention.
"It's immoral because it will put at risk the lives of navy personnel and asylum seekers," she said in a statement.
"Navy personnel who served during the Howard years have said turning back boats was distressing and they were in danger while they carried out the government's policy."
- With AAP
The Australian Greens have described the concept as "illegal and immoral".
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the idea overrides Australia's international obligations under the refugee convention.
"It's immoral because it will put at risk the lives of navy personnel and asylum seekers," she said in a statement.
"Navy personnel who served during the Howard years have said turning back boats was distressing and they were in danger while they carried out the government's policy."
- With AAP
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