Sharon Grierson (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to draw attention to the appropriations, particularly in the Immigration and Citizenship area. In doing so, I think I speak for all members of parliament in saying how important the Department of Immigration and Citizenship is to us in our daily dealings with our constituents. I take this opportunity to draw to the attention of the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship the wonderful work of Ralph Harwood, who is our ministerial contact in the New South Wales parliamentary and ministerial liaison section in the DIAC office in Parramatta. I praise Ralph particularly for his professional expertise, his timely, accurate and detailed advice and for the fact that he is always willing to canvass all options with my staff and me so that we can give the best advice to the many people needing assistance.

In my electorate a lot of humanitarian services contracts have been delivered. That has not been an easy ride. Settling almost 1,000 African refugees in an electorate like Newcastle has been a challenging task and one that has been well embraced by the community—but it has not been without problems. The minister is aware that earlier this year, after the Social Justice Council of the Catholic diocese of Maitland-Newcastle approached me and brought to my attention some serious matters regarding the delivery of those contracts, I asked the department to investigate those concerns through the minister. However, it was not until I actually sat with the Rwandan and Congolese families who were newly arrived in my electorate—I sat with them for 2½ hours; it was a devastating 2½ hours—that I heard of their distress, saw their depression, saw their destroyed morale, saw their damaged confidence and saw that their belief in the strength and greatness of this country was at risk. I brought the matter to the attention of the minister, who took very strong, direct and immediate action. It has been recorded in the parliament that the minister instigated an independent inquiry conducted by Ernst and Young. I would like the minister to detail for me how that has progressed and how it will deliver settlement services that we can have confidence in, that are value for money and that absolutely marry with the outcomes and expectations that a good government would have.

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