Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Providing a welcoming, secure and respectful environment for refugees results in greater social and economic benefits for everyone and a stronger, more cohesive Australia. In my electorate of North Sydney, both the North Sydney and Lane Cove local government areas have long been refugee welcome zones, demonstrating compassion for refugees and acknowledging the tremendous contribution these people have made and continue to make to our lives. Yet it remains that at the federal level many people—arguably still in this place—are simply out of step with the community values of fairness and decency, and the policies of successive Labor and Liberal governments over decades have fallen short of Australia's international obligations and our community's expectations.

Under former Prime Minister Howard, policymakers and the media shifted the language around refugees. These people became known as 'illegals', 'illegal asylum seekers' or 'queue jumpers'. In doing this, we denied them the fundamental truth of who they are and what they need: refuge in a nation that, up until that point in time, had been known as a welcoming country. But over the past two decades political expediency and cynicism have won out. Dog whistling fear has won out over compassion. Now is beyond time for this change, and we must start with an immediate end to the indefinite detention of refugees both here in Australia and offshore.

By its very nature, mandatory detention is arbitrary and thus contrary to international law. Despite this, as of March 2022 Australia is holding 1,512 people in detention facilities, including 1,450 men and 62 women. Offshore, more than 200 people remain stuck in detention in Nauru or Papua New Guinea, and, since offshore processing began in 2012, the Australian government, our government, has sent around 4,183 people to Nauru or Papua New Guinea.

For these thousands of people that both Labor and Liberal governments have kept under lock and key over the past decade, the average length of detention has been steadily increasing and is now, according to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, the highest it has ever been, at 726 days. That has turned into 726 nights of not being able to sleep in peace, not finding yourself in a safe place you can call home. Another way to think of it is 17,424 hours away from family and friends. The absolutely heartbreaking thing is that some people seeking refuge have been locked in detention for even longer. Over 120 people were held in detention by our nation for five years or more, with several having spent more than 10 years in detention. That's 87,600 hours. The truth is that every minute in every one of those hours has felt like a lifetime. In this cruelty, Australia is truly a global outlier. We are unique in locking people up on a mandatory basis and without time limits. In comparable jurisdictions such as the United States it's about 55 days. In Canada it's 14 days. Faster turnarounds can and must be achieved.

Yesterday I met with three courageous people, Ismail, Thanush and Betelhem, who came to Australia seeking safety and protection. Instead, successive governments have dished up nothing but cold-hearted cruelty, uncertainty and fear. Ismail told me he spent seven years—that's 61,320 hours—in detention. He started out as a young, healthy, strong man, but he admitted that even he has been broken by detention. Ismail left a son who was only months old when he fled, and he has not seen him since. Now Ismail, released only four months ago, lives in the community but is unable to work and describes himself as a living ghost.

We need a renewed commitment by Australia to comply with its international legal obligations, to begin to repair our reputation as a good international citizen and a leader in human rights. Community based alternatives to detention should be used whenever possible, and surely it goes without saying that children should never ever be detained. The first step of dismantling the cruelty of indefinite detention is that the remaining 216 people who have sought our safety and protection must be evacuated from Nauru and Papua New Guinea. To our new government— (Time expired)

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