The Australian Greens call for the Prime Minister to provide regional leadership by attending the Rohingyan refugee crisis talks scheduled to be held in Thailand on May 29.

"I'm calling on the Prime Minister today to show up and do something to help. It's time he provided leadership in the region. It's time to show that Australia does care about the lives of people stranded on these boats and care about our regional neighbours struggling with the influx of people who are fleeing persecution" " the Greens immigration spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Australian Greens welcome the case filed in the High Court yesterday challenging the lawfulness of offshore detention.

"It is costing taxpayers billions of dollars to keep children locked up in Nauru's squalid tent prison.

"This week's budget shows the government is spending half a million dollars per person, per year, to detain men, women and children on Nauru.

The Australian Greens have called upon the Abbott Government to provide immediate technical, financial and humanitarian assistance to the reported 8,000 Rohingyan asylum seeking refugees currently adrift in South-East Asian seas.

"The UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration have called for an international search and rescue mission to save the asylum seekers and Australia is best placed to provide such assistance, Greens spokesperson for Immigration Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said

"The Abbott Government's significant cuts in foreign aid are short sighted and self-serving and will further damage Australia's poor global reputation on immigration" Greens spokesperson on Immigration Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has said.

"With effectively no cuts to aid in Nauru, PNG and Cambodia the government is blatantly paying off these nations to do Australia's dirty work on asylum seeker detention.

Senator WRIGHT (South Australia) (11:37):  I rise to speak on the Migration Amendment (Protection and Other Measures) Bill 2014, which seeks to amend the Migration Act 1958. If those listening to the debate today take away nothing else, I would ask them to take away the understanding that this bill, if passed, has the very real likelihood of Australia deporting people-fellow human beings-who have come to us legally-

Senator O'Sullivan:  Illegally.

Tuesday marks one year since the tragic death of Reza Barati, a refugee in the care of the Australian Government.

"A year on and we still have no answers and a government that refuses to accept any responsibility for the death of a refugee in its care," Greens Leader Christine Milne said.

"People imprisoned on Manus Island continue to suffer but Reza Barati paid the ultimate price for the Coalition's cruel policy encapsulated in the election slogan to 'stop the boats'.