PM to pitch asylum plan in Malaysia

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will pitch her East Timor asylum seeker processing
centre plan to her Malaysian counterpart on Monday, after spruiking it at a major
meeting of Asian leaders at the weekend.
Ms Gillard sought support for the proposal at the 16-nation East Asia Summit and in
a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the meeting in the Vietnamese
capital Hanoi.
The summit brings together the leaders of the 10 ASEAN countries plus Australia,
China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea to discuss a range of political and
economic issues.
Leaders discussed concerns about upcoming elections in Burma and tensions between
North and South Korea.
Ms Gillard welcomed the leaders' reaffirmation of their commitment to regional
efforts to combat people smuggling.
"I'm pleased that there is a specific paragraph on this question in the chairman's
statement," Ms Gillard told reporters on Sunday.
"I think that's an indication ... that this is an issue that the region acknowledges
needs further work."
Ms Gillard confirmed she would be raising the processing centre proposal during her
talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
"It will be a matter I raise amongst a series of other matters," she said.
Ms Gillard met with a several leaders on the summit sidelines including Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton.
She also met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Our discussions included economic cooperation and trade, international students -
and he acknowledged and appreciated the efforts the government had taken to address
the issues of student safety," Ms Gillard said.
"We also discussed Afghanistan and India's interest in making sure the mission was
successful."
Ms Gillard was due to have meetings with Vietnam's president, prime minister and
general secretary later on Sunday.
Askedif she would raise human rights concerns with the Vietnamese leaders Ms Gillard
said: "I would prefer to comment on what's said after the discussions rather than
before, but we will obviously be talking across the full range of the relationship."
Ms Gillard also chaired an ASEAN-Australia summit where she announced Australia
would spend $132 million improving infrastructure in the Greater Mekong region and
$10 million to combat migrants worker exploitation.
Ms Gillard will pitch her asylum seeker plan to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Tuesday.
She will return to Australia on Thursday.
The 10 members of ASEAN are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.