Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is my sad obligation today to recognise in this chamber the recent statement from Medecins Sans Frontieres about refugees and asylum seekers in Australian-funded facilities on Nauru. Upon being forced to leave the country by the government of Nauru, MSF described the situation of the men, women and children that it had been previously providing mental services to as 'beyond desperate' and 'expressed high concern for the conditions of the patients we have been forced to leave behind.'

The current situation on Nauru is wrong. It is not justifiable on any grounds. These people should not still be there. Nauru and Manus Island were set up as temporary regional processing centres but have become places of indefinite detention because of the failure of this government to negotiate third-country resettlement options over the past five years. These refugees have been left in limbo for far too long, longer than any human being should have to endure. They should be resettled as soon as possible. To this end, I again implore the government to accept New Zealand's resettlement offer and start getting these people off Nauru. In the meantime, the government must immediately take action to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru are receiving adequate health care and mental health services. This includes transfers where mental health and other health-care services are not available on the island. Despite the government's denials, Australia has a moral responsibility to the people currently in Australian-funded offshore regional processing centres. It must act and it must act now. (Time expired)

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