Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I agree with the majority view in the Senate, and I support the member for Melbourne's motion that would see those of us in this place agree with the message from the Senate. It is self-evident that the situation on Manus Island is dire. There has now been an abundance of media reports and an abundance of reports from firsthand witnesses who have seen the conditions on Manus Island. They have seen the way in which hundreds of men, many of whom who have already been found to be refugees, are living in squalid conditions. I simply do not accept the words from the minister when he says that all is well there, because the fact is there are just too many reports from people who are saying the situation is dire and hundreds of men are living in squalid conditions, many in fear of their lives. That we would allow this to continue is inhuman. That we would refuse a generous offer from the government of New Zealand to voluntarily resettle at least some of those men, that we would refuse that offer, is inhuman.

It's time for the government to swallow its pride. I simply do not accept that the resettlement of 150 men in New Zealand needs to be a fast-track pathway to this country. It need not be that way. The fact is the government needs to swallow its pride and act in accordance with the majority view of the Senate and, near on, the majority view in this place—perhaps the majority view in this place if there was to be a conscience vote on this issue. The fact is that we, as a country, need to have a legal and ethical response to people who are fleeing for their lives. Let's not forget that most people who come to this country claiming to be fleeing for their lives are found to have been fleeing for their lives. What's so hard about this country starting to act like the law-abiding, rich, fortunate and ethical country that we would like to think we are? What's so hard for us about acting ethically and legally? Why can't we start honouring the commitments we've made in any number of international agreements—agreements like the refugee convention and agreements like the Rome Statute? When we signed up to these international agreements we did so because we thought they mattered. But they don't seem to matter now because we have a government which is more inclined to pander to the xenophobia and to the racism in this community in a race to the bottom of the barrel.

While I'm very heartened and pleased that the opposition, the Labor Party, is supportive of the motion by the member for Melbourne, I also call on the opposition to lift your game too. The fact is there should be no place for mandatory detention. There should be no place for offshore processing. There should be no place for any sort of temporary visa. There should be no place for the tow back of boats to countries like Indonesia. What there should be is an intelligent, legal and ethical response so that when people come to our shore by any means—by air or by boat—and they claim to be fleeing for their lives, we should give them protection. We should hear their claim, and we should give them permanent refuge if their claim is found to be accurate. That's what we should be doing.

If there are people in this community who don't like that legal and ethical response, it's our job in this place to start acting like leaders and to explain to the broad Australian community why we need to act in accordance with international law and why we need to act like a fortunate, rich and lucky country, one with morals and scruples, because it's not good enough to pander to those people who would disagree with that in the community. It's time to be leaders.

You know what? When I'm out in my community in the Denison electorate, sometimes someone will come up to me and say the most awful things about asylum seekers—call them all of sorts of things—hardly the worst of which is 'illegals', and says, 'They're all terrorists. They should all be sent back home.' I say to these people almost every time: 'Hang on, do you agree that if anyone from anywhere in the world is genuinely fleeing for their life, we should grab hold of them, protect them and look after them?' Without fail, they say: 'Of course we should!' And then I turn the conversation around a bit more and say: 'But that's what we're doing; that's all we're doing. When people come to this country, by any means, and claim to be fleeing for their life, we should give them protection and hear their claim.' If their claim is accurate—and it most often is—we should then give them permanent refuge. We shouldn't send them off to Nauru, Manus Island or anywhere else. Nauru and Manus Island have become our modern day prison hulks—like the hulks that were used in the Thames for convicts. This is a blot on our country's name and our reputation—and will be forever.

But we can start to turn it around. It is a decent and generous offer by the government of New Zealand to resettle some of these men. Why can't the government act like human beings? Swallow your pride and say yes. It is not good enough, Minister, to hide behind that old government line: 'We've got very secret information which we can't share you. You've just got to trust us.' That's what happened in 2003, when we went to war. The government then said: 'We've got very secret information. We can't share it with you. You've just got to trust us.'

When it comes to asylum seeker policy, there is no trust left. The community does not trust the government. And I'm sorry, opposition, but, despite your good efforts today, when it comes to your broad policy, the community doesn't like that either. The fact is that most people in the community want Australia to start acting like a decent, law-abiding country. They want us to give protection to people who claim to be fleeing for their life. The broad community wants us to hear their claim. Sure, if their claim is fraudulent, then send them back. I will say that again: if their claim is fraudulent, then send them back.

The fact is that most people who come to this country claiming to be fleeing for their life—or who try to get to this country claiming to be fleeing for their life—are found to be genuine refugees. Most of the people on Manus Island at the moment, rotting up there somewhere north of New Guinea, have been found to be genuine refugees. And the best plan the government can come up with is to release them into the local community or to rely on the promises of Donald Trump! Does anyone really think the United States is going to accept over a thousand asylum seekers from this country? Does anyone really think we can trust Donald Trump on this? Of course we can't. He just said what had to be said to get through a difficult moment. There is no way the United States is going to take those people. But here we have on the table a repeated invitation from the government of New Zealand to take some of them. The government should swallow its pride and accept that offer.

I make the point again that politicians in this country need to stop pandering to the racism and xenophobia that lurks in the darkest corners of our community. Stop pandering to that for votes. It's only a handful of votes. As we saw in the Queensland election, there weren't that many votes when Pauline Hanson went hard for them. There weren't that many votes. I say to the government and to the opposition: leave those votes alone and stop pandering to them. Start leading the community. Explain to the community the circumstances in source countries. Explain to the community the circumstances in countries of first asylum. Explain to the community the forces at work, the difficulties in transit countries. Explain to the community why we need to start honouring international agreements like the refugee convention, why we need to start honouring international agreements like the Rome statute and why we need to give protection to these unfortunate souls.

And we could start with the hundreds of men on Manus Island. If you won't accept New Zealand's offer to resettle some of them, then bring them here now. Most of them have been found to be asylum seekers. It is not good enough to have them rotting up there in half-finished facilities, many in fear of their life. It's not good enough to justify it by saying, as the government does, 'But we've got a secret! And you're just going to have to trust us that this is the best course of action,' because it ain't the best course of action. Remember, it is a crime against humanity to detain people indefinitely without trial. It is a crime against humanity to detain people in inhuman conditions. It is a crime against humanity to forcibly transfer someone to a third country. We in this government are guilty of those crimes against humanity. How about you start turning it around—through you, Deputy Speaker, to the minister—turn it around and accept New Zealand's generous offer? (Time expired)

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