Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

All of us in this place have watched the refugee crisis unfolding in the Middle East, and indeed in Europe, with growing concern. The violent evil being perpetrated in the Middle East is driving the largest movement of displaced people since the Second World War. This is a humanitarian crisis gripping our global community and the consequences for desperate people in dreadful circumstances have played out in front of the world's watching eyes. Much has been said and written about the photo—which moved so many of us here in Australia—of that Turkish police officer carrying the body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi up off that Turkish beach. As a father, it shook me to my core. I cannot imagine, and I hope never to know, the toll that such a loss would take upon a person's soul. But that image is, after all, merely a snapshot of the human tragedy afflicting literally tens of thousands of desperate people.

It is only a brief glimpse of a nightmare that so many other parents are living through, right now. Parents, children, husbands and wives will carry the scars of this moment for the rest of their lives. If we can find it in ourselves to confront this reality, to accept the scope and scale of the challenge before us, surely we can agree that words of sympathy are not enough. Surely we can see that our compassion demands action.

As I announced earlier today, I am asking the Prime Minister to convene a bipartisan emergency meeting of state leaders, community and religious representatives to work towards Australia making an offer of 10,000 additional places for refugees displaced by the crisis in Syria. This one-off additional increase in the humanitarian program would come on top of Australia's existing intake. In addition, we seek the government to immediately contribute an extra $100 million towards humanitarian relief efforts in response to the Syrian crisis. This would help provide essential assistance to the most vulnerable people affected by the crisis, including millions of people living in refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon on and Jordan.

I believe that at a moment such as this Australians expect their parliament to show leadership, decency and compassion. Europe is dealing with these issues and Australia has a contribution to make too. Labor believes that Australia should play its role in an international response to relieve the suffering and the pressure on Syria's neighbouring countries and the people within them. Australia has been here in not dissimilar circumstances, in the past. Back in 1976 and 1977 Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser stood up, in terms of the tragedy and the exodus from Vietnam. Prime Minister Bob Hawke offered safe haven to Chinese students studying, here, following the Tiananmen Square massacre and Prime Minister John Howard, when dealing with the plight of the Kosovars, made a decision to go above and beyond.

Let us fulfil this tradition. It is now the turn of members of this parliament to step up, to go above and beyond. I note that many members of the government and, indeed, the cabinet have indicated their instinctive support for such a move. We welcome this because bipartisanship is important here too. Let our determination for Australia to be better and do more be one shared by our entire parliament and our whole nation. Let us speak with one voice to the world. Let us live up to the standard that we have always set for ourselves, as the land of the second chance and the home of the fair go for all.

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