Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about National Refugee Week, which we are celebrating this week. Last Friday the launch of National Refugee Week in my electorate attracted a huge gathering at the Broadmeadows Town Hall. As the member for Calwell, I represent a constituency which has welcomed many refugees from across the world. I am proud to represent my constituents because they serve as a real living example of the contributions made by refugees who now call Australia home. Those attending included members of the Bhutanese community, numbering around 300 people, which is a small but emerging community in my electorate. In attendance also were members of the Chaldean and Assyrian Iraqi community, the Somali community, Sri Lankan community and many more.

Refugees have long been welcomed in Calwell. It is a community which upholds the Australian ethos of a fair go by working alongside our newest Australians and helping them to create a better life not only for themselves but also for the rest of the community. This year’s theme for National Refugee Week ‘Freedom from fear’ is one which by the end of 2011 will have been used for three consecutive years. It is an apt theme because it highlights the need for the community to engage with our newest migrants to make them feel welcome—to see them as fellow human beings rather than through the lenses of hysteria or xenophobia. It is also a theme which highlights the refugee experience the world over which ultimately can be shaped by fear or a welcoming attitude. I am very glad that we not only here in Australia but also in my electorate have chosen the latter—a welcoming attitude.

Australia has long been a welcoming country for people from across the world, and this welcoming culture has long been extended to our refugees. I say this in spite of the negativity of public debate that sometimes clouds our ability to celebrate the valuable contributions made by refugees to the overall social character of Australia. It does not serve our humanity as parliamentarians or as a community if we buy into this idea that refugees are queuejumpers invading our shores in droves and that somehow because of this they are less deserving of seeking asylum. The fact is asylum seekers account for less than seven per cent of our overall immigration intake, and 90 per cent of asylum seekers are found to be genuine refugees.

National Refugee Week, therefore, is an important event because it allows us to truly reflect on the successful integration of all Australians—both our newest Australians and those more established Australians. We need to better understand why people come to Australia and this allows us to understand the importance of the contribution that refugees have long made and continue to make to Australia. I am glad that all of us, regardless of our individual stories, our own experiences and journeys can call Australia home and we need to continue to extend this welcome to people seeking refuge in our home.

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