PM's changes to Migration Act amendments aim to win support of Tony Abbott's Coalition

JULIA Gillard has given ground to the Coalition on amendments to migration law, boosting proposed protections for asylum-seekers.

JULIA Gillard has given ground to the Coalition on amendments to the Migration Act, boosting proposed human rights protections for asylum-seekers to be processed in third countries.

Tony Abbott has agreed to consider the revised amendments, which would require the immigration minister of the day to be satisfied that countries where asylum-seekers were sent complied with the obligations of the UN refugee convention.

The Coalition had earlier looked set to reject Labor's attempts to revive its Malaysian refugee swap, which the High Court has ruled unlawful.

Ms Gillard said her proposed amendments to the Migration Act, presented to Mr Abbott during a 15 minute meeting today, made clear the government's intentions.

“It makes it clear in these arrangements that the minister.... would need to have regard to the national interest and specifically would need to have regard to whether or not the country that asylum-seekers were being taken to met the principle obligations under the refugee convention,” Ms Gillard said.

“That is, (third countries would have to meet) the obligation of non-refoulement - which means that people should not be returned to a place where they would face persecution - and secondly, that their claims would be processed.”

The changes overturn initial Labor amendments that would have removed human rights safeguards, including any right to “natural justice”.

The proposed amendments, aimed at putting offshore processing beyond doubt following the High Court's ruling, will be introduced into parliament on Wednesday.

The carefully-worded new amendments are designed to allow the government's Malaysian refugee swap to proceed despite Malaysia's refusal to sign the UN refugee convention.

“Our advice is these amendments are legally sound,” Ms Gillard said.

She said the amendments were crucial for her government, and any future Australian government, to make policy in the national interest.

The opposition, which wants to process asylum-seekers on Nauru, wanted a simple amendment requiring offshore processing countries to be party to the UN refugee convention.

The Opposition Leader left the Prime Minister's office today without comment.

Ms Gillard said the amendments would be introduced along with proposed changes to the Guardianship of Children Act, which would address the potential transfer of unaccompanied minors.

She dismissed as “complete nonsense” a suggestion the government had overlooked some basic human rights issues in draft amendments it released late on Friday.

“We have worked with our legal advisers throughout this process, always on the basis that this nation would honour its refugee convention obligations, always.”

Ms Gillard said there was more than one way to draft the amendment.

“There is rarely one way to draft a piece of legislation, there is always a number of ways of drafting a piece of legislation.”

Ms Gillard said Labor had always intended to honour its obligations under the refugee convention.

“The draft that we are releasing publicly today, and which I have given to the leader of the opposition, has greater assurance on the face of it about that, that is there are more words, but the government was always going to honour its obligations under the refugee conventions. To contend anything else is simply incorrect,” she said.

The Greens accused the government of “legislative trickery”, saying the amendments undermined the Australian principle of the “fair go”.

“This shreds the proud history we have of standing up for those who are most vulnerable,” Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

Ms Gillard later struck a conciliatory tone in question time, saying the government had redrafted its proposed amendments in an effort to find common ground with the opposition.

“The leader of the opposition expressed concerns about some matters. In the new draft I believe he will see additional clarity about the matters about which he expressed concern,” she said.

However, the opposition highlighted the fact that assurances by third countries on the treatment of asylum-seekers did not have to be legally binding.

Ms Gillard said governments could make agreements that were “honoured” but not set in law.

This had been done by past governments, she said, including by the Howard government in its offshore processing deal with Nauru.

Ms Gillard rejected suggestions that the Malaysian Solution was at odds with the Labor Party platform.

“Well I direct your attention to all of the Labor Party platform, if you read all of the section you will find a clause that talks about making arrangements within our region and with countries within our region,” she said.

“I remind you that the Malaysian Solution is one that stands on our regional framework which was negotiated in Bali and was part of our working in the region - clearly it is my view that the Malaysian arrangement is in accordance with Labor's platform.”