Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to talk about the global plight of asylum seekers and refugees and the impact of this on Australia, and to return balance to the debate. The honourable member for Kalgoorlie’s speech has given us a complete example of where the opposition wants to take this debate. It is a disgrace. Playing politics with people’s lives is reprehensible. The sheer fact that the member for Kalgoorlie has no understanding about how immigration policy works was completely evident in his speech tonight.

I am very fortunate to represent one of Australia’s most multicultural and ethnically diverse electorates. As such, the asylum seeker debate is played out predominantly by my constituents. My office receives considerable correspondence regarding asylum seekers, with a wide array of opinions and views expressed. Many within my electorate are very involved in the cause of asylum seekers and refugees, and work tirelessly to support these individuals. The majority of those contacting my office want to see a more compassionate approach from government towards asylum seekers. They want individuals who risk life and limb to see a better future for themselves and their families. They do not talk about them as queue jumpers, because they understand the migration policy—and there are two totally different queues, which the member for Kalgoorlie does not seem to understand. Others contact my office seeking a harder approach to the issue and are concerned about the consequences of Australians accepting a greater number of asylum seekers. Others think we need to have a wider ranging debate on population.

This government is committed to striking the right balance on this issue and delivering an immigration policy that is fair and humane. The opposition are trying to accuse the government of introducing policies which lead to an increased number of people seeking asylum in Australia, as the member for Kalgoorlie has just amply demonstrated. This argument is easily rebutted. The issue of asylum seeker claims is a global issue that goes beyond what is happening in Australia. In fact, the number of people seeking asylum in Australia is minuscule in comparison with what is happening elsewhere in the world.

I am proud to be part of a government that has ended the failed Pacific solution, the temporary protection visa and the 45-day rule. Earlier this year, I had the great privilege of presenting to the parliament a petition organised by the Uniting Church of Australia calling for a more humane approach to the issue of asylum seekers. The Uniting Church and many other churches within my electorate have done some fantastic work in advocating the plight of refugees in the community. It is with great pleasure that I can say the government has acted to amend Australia’s policy in relation to asylum seekers and refugees, and to remove the cycle of debt forced on asylum seekers who had to pay for their own detention. We make no apologies for introducing reform which breaks from the cruel policies of the Howard government—flawed policies that failed to uphold Australia’s commitment under international law and saw legitimate refugees living in Australia denied access to health care and the opportunity to work and support their families.

The punitive treatment of refugees by the Howard government did nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration. Claims from the opposition that changes to these policies are fuelling an increase in asylum seeker levels simply do not add up. As with many claims by the opposition, the statistics do not support their argument. The claims made by the member for Kalgoorlie are totally and utterly flawed. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report on asylum seeker levels and trends for the first half of 2009, the numbers of individuals requesting refugee status during this time continued the upward trend already observed over the past two years. The report indicates that the increase in people seeking asylum in Australia is part of a worldwide trend driven by insecurity, persecution and conflict. In the first half of 2009, 2,503 people sought asylum in Australia. This figure remains well below that observed in 2000, when there were 13,100 claims, and in 2002, when there were 12,400 claims.

Additionally, the number of people seeking asylum in Australia is small in global terms. Europe remains the primary destination for asylum seekers, with 139,600 claims registered in the first six months of 2009, including France with 19,400 claims, the United Kingdom with 17,700 claims and Germany with 12,000 claims. This is an important point. Australia it receives very few asylum claims in comparison with other industrial nations around the world. This fact is sometimes lost in the hysteria of the asylum seeker debate here in Australia—as amply demonstrated by the previous speaker.

Five thousand two hundred people sought asylum from Sri Lanka in the first half of 2009—a 12 per cent increase on 2008 levels. There is a large Sri Lankan community in my electorate who are obviously very concerned about what is taking place in their country of birth. I have met with members of the community and listened to their distress about what is taking place. I have met with both the Tamil and Sinhalese communities. No Sri Lankan has been untouched by the awful conflict that has occurred in the country and, although military victory came to pass some months ago, there are significant concerns regarding the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of displaced citizens. This is the driving force behind thousands of Sri Lankans fleeing their country in search of asylum, with many attempting to come to Australia.

The Rudd government is continuing to respond to the humanitarian challenges facing Sri Lanka through our aid program, especially the needs of internally displaced people. In 2008-09, Australia devoted $24.5 million to meeting humanitarian needs in Sri Lanka. This financial year, we will provide more than $35 million in development assistance. We have called upon the Sri Lankan government to be more open about the conditions of displaced persons in camps and to ensure quicker and safer resettlement of these individuals back to the north where they wish to return. But we have also welcomed the end of decades of conflict. We now call upon the Sri Lankan government to reap the benefits of peace and reconcile a divided nation.

In light of the global increase in people seeking asylum, the government is committed to maintaining a strong border control policy to uphold the integrity of our immigration policy. It is our policy that all irregular maritime arrivals are subject to mandatory detention on Christmas Island while health, identity and security checks are undertaken and claims for asylum are assessed. Unlike the Howard government, it is our policy that no child be held in a detention centre. Children and, where possible, their families are housed in temporary accommodation on Christmas Island, not a detention centre.

We believe that this is only right—that we should treat people who seek our protection humanely. It is right that we meet our international obligations under the UN refugee convention. I mentioned that we have ended the 45-day rule. Many of my constituents had been supporting asylum seekers who were living in the community. We focus greatly upon those who are in detention centres, but there are some thousands who have been seeking asylum while in the community and have been placed under a bridging visa E regulation, which gave them no work rights. During this time, they were left to starve. They could not work, they could not seek government support and they could not seek Medicare—they could seek nothing. This was the most inhumane part of a very flawed system, one that supposedly stopped the boats coming. The boats kept coming. People still seek asylum. We will always have asylum seekers in our world. Tragically, we have never been devoid of conflict in any of our lifetimes in the history of our world, in the history of humanity walking the earth. And we will always have people who are caught up in tragic circumstances needing to find somewhere safe to reside. Australia has the opportunity to provide that safe haven.

I am not, as the member for Kalgoorlie claimed, throwing open the doors, but I am advocating for a humane approach to individuals—one that treats people with respect and dignity, one that does not play politics with human lives. It seems that the asylum seeker debate brings out the worst in the coalition—though not all, I must admit. But it does seem to have created a situation where sound and fury seem to have taken over: ‘Here is the debate; we will jump on this debate and traumatise individuals who have been so traumatised already.’ Although we have, thankfully, avoided the toxic debate that ensued in 2001, it is disappointing to see the coalition attempt to deceive the public into believing government policy has led to an increase in asylum seeker levels here in Australia. In doing so, they are attempting to exploit the issue of vulnerable people for political gain, and for this they should be condemned. The Australian government is committed to a more compassionate approach to this issue that does not reject the fundamental issue of border protection. I am proud to be part of a more compassionate government that has wound back the Howard government’s intrinsically cruel and inhumane policies. I am hopeful that a sensitive approach will continue to be deployed into the future.

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