Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) refugees transferred to Australia from Nauru and Papua New Guinea for medical treatment are still being held in immigration detention centres and alternative places of detention, such as hotels, in Australia;

(b) many of these individuals have now been detained for over eight years and have suffered significant psychological harm as result of their prolonged and indefinite detention;

(c) the offshore detention program will cost taxpayers $811 million alone in the 2021-22 financial year despite:

(i) the impact on the physical and mental health of detainees; and

(ii) repeated offers to resettle asylum seekers from New Zealand; and

(d) there is overwhelming community support for the fair and humane treatment of Medevac refugees, including their release from detention, as evidenced by the #TimeForAHome campaign of over 160 civil society groups and organisations; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) immediately accept New Zealand's offer to resettle 150 refugees per year;

(b) work towards resettling people languishing in indefinite detention; and

(c) move refugees transferred to Australia from Nauru and Papua New Guinea for medical treatment still being held in immigration detention centres and alternative places of detention into the community recognising that 'it's cheaper for people to be in the community than it is to be at a hotel or for us to be paying for them to be in detention and if they're demonstrated not to be a threat'.

I move this motion in my name, and I'm grateful to the member for Cooper, who will second it and who's been a champion for refugees throughout her career in this place and since her election. I'm also grateful for the support I've received from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, from my friends Kon and Jana and all of the team there. The work they do is remarkable, and I cannot imagine how difficult it has been over this last year or so. I also want to acknowledge the grandmothers and all of the people who have stood up to add their voice to ensure that Australia doesn't continue the heartless and cruel policies that we've seen under the Morrison government.

It saddens me that we're talking about the very basic dignity and a very basic level of responsibility for the welfare and health care of people who are in our care. In the past year and a half, Australians, and indeed people all around the world, have had just a taste of what it is to be locked up. That is especially true for people who are in strict quarantine—not just stay-at-home restrictions, but 14-day quarantine—either at home or in a hotel. We've heard from many of them about how isolating it is, even for a short period of time, and how difficult it is to be stuck there and how lonely it is. Well, imagine being in hotel quarantine for a year. Imagine being there after having spent years in detention. Imagine the only reason you weren't still in offshore detention is that you were sick and you couldn't get adequate medical care in that offshore detention. The government flew you to Australia not because they wanted to but because they were forced to by a law that was passed against their will. Imagine the mental and emotional trauma that would cause you, not to mention the physical trauma.

We have heard from people about just how traumatised they are. Earlier this year, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre brought two men to Canberra who had been through this entire ordeal. Thanush and Ramsiyar came to this country seeking asylum, and they spent eight years in various forms of detention. Eight years of the lives of these young men were spent locked up on Manus Island and then later in a hotel in Melbourne. While they were part of a cohort of around 100 people who were surprisingly released earlier this year, there are still over 100 medevac refugees in various forms of onshore detention in Australia, including five women. We have no idea if or when these people might be released. The government refuses to explain why some have been released into the community and others haven't. There are around 1,000 people on bridging visas with a completely uncertain future and minimal, if any, government support. There are still 230 asylum seekers stuck in offshore detention in PNG and Nauru.

How much does this cost Australian taxpayers? Over $811 million is committed in the 2021-22 budget alone. Let's be very clear about this. Even the former Minister for Home Affairs, Minister Dutton, has said:

Well it's cheaper for people to be in the community than it is to be at a hotel or for us to be paying for them to be in detention and if they're demonstrated not to be a threat … then it is cheaper for people to go out into the community …

We're talking about human beings who are not a threat to this country, who have committed no crime in seeking asylum, and yet the Morrison government is picking the most expensive and least humane option possible in keeping them in detention.

I want to acknowledge—because I have no doubt that members opposite will try to run up a scare campaign on the boats and people smugglers—Labor believes you can be strong on the borders without being weak on humanity. This government is weak on humanity. We have had an offer on the table since 2013, between Julia Gillard and John Key, to resettle 150 asylum seekers every year in New Zealand. That would have meant that there would be no-one in offshore detention in Australia. This government continues to refuse to accept that deal, yet we're still talking in this place about people who have been in detention for eight years. We can say that we won't resettle them here, but we can't just leave them in limbo. The government has failed to make any effort to accept the deals on the table or to try to negotiate others. They are just indifferent to this cruelty. We must do better for the people who are in our care. The government should accept the deals. The government should release people. We should put an end to indefinite detention.

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