Malaysia Swap Deal Could Work, Says Former Minister

By Neville D'Cruz MELBOURNE, Dec 21 (Bernama) – Supporters of opposition leader Tony Abbott have asked him to back the Gillard government's proposed “Malaysia swap deal” or work out a compromise. But former Howard-government immigration minister Philip Ruddock says the plan could only work to deter the influx of asylum seekers if it includes no limit on numbers that could be sent back to Malaysia. Former foreign minister Alexander Downer has urged his friend Abbott and his immigration spokesman Scott Morrison to end the deadlock to avoid further sinking of boats on high seas. Ruddock told ABC Radio that numbers now arriving in Australian waters are much larger than what the previous government had to deal with, and that all measures applied by the Howard government needed to be used now to stem the flow of boats. He said the present government's Malaysia deal was unlikely to work with just 800 asylum seekers being returned to Malaysia. "Those numbers will soon be dwarfed by the numbers that smugglers have already brought to Australia since those announcements were made," he told ABC Radio. "I think the only way in which it would (work) is if it was open-ended." The government and opposition are now jousting over a possible compromise deal in a bid to end the flood of asylum seekers. The government insists on opposition support for the Malaysia deal. The opposition wants a return to processing of asylum seekers on Nauru and reintroduction of temporary protection visas, as well as sending the boats back to Indonesia. Ruddock said all weapons in the armoury need to be used. "If you use offshore processing, it does mean you have a better chance of getting more robust decision-making without Australian jurisprudence coming into play, which makes it more difficult to get sound decisions," he said. Ruddock said High Court objections to the Malaysia deal could be addressed by Malaysia signing on to the refugee convention. High Court concerns could also be met if Malaysia agrees to formalise the arrangement with Australia, providing a written agreement that those found to be refugees will not be returned to situations of persecution, he said. -- BERNAMA Malaysia