Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Australia has a proud history of welcoming new migrants to our nation. Our economic and social prosperity was built on the back of migrants, and we thank them for their wonderful contribution to our nation. At last year's census it was indicated that 30 per cent of the Australian population was born overseas and almost half of Australians—48.2 per cent—have a parent who was born overseas. In our homes we speak about 200 different languages. We boast about 180 different ancestries and we practise many different religions and theologies. But we do so in an environment of peace, respect and goodwill. That is the key to the success of Australia's multiculturalism and our diversity, and it's made Australia one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world.

But that success didn't come on the back of luck. That success was built on government policy that promoted a culture of migration and of supporting multiculturalism and diversity in Australia. Importantly, it was built on government policies that supported those principles. The key to that is successful settlement and integration into Australian society for new migrants. It's in providing settlement services, English language services, housing for new migrants, schooling for their children and, importantly, access to skills training and employment so they can participate in the workforce.

For government to successfully provide those services, we must have an orderly and a government-supported migration program. It's often in that program that we have the key to prevent having migrants living in poverty, being illegal workers with no welfare support, as we see in many other nations. So the success of Australia's migration program has been built on an orderly, structured government-sponsored program. Our migration intake each year includes a number of humanitarian visas as part of a refugee program. In international comparisons, Australia does its bit when it comes to resettling refugees. A UNHCR report covering 2015 to 2021 indicated that Australia resettled the fourth-largest number of refugees through the UNHCR, at about 25½ thousand refugees. When it comes to internationally displaced people and urgent conflicts like in Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, Australia acts quickly and decisively to offer humanitarian support and resettle people as quickly as possible. When they come to Australia, of course they deserve that support and that resettlement program that the government offers to make their resettlement a success.

But to ensure that success it's important that people come through that government program. That is the key to that success, and it is the key to ensuring that we have the health, education and housing services to support newly arrived migrants. In the past some people have sought to arrive outside that resettlement program. They've undertaken boat journeys. We all know the reasons people get into that desperate situation and take those boat journeys, but it did result in tragic and deadly consequences. A large number of vulnerable people, in particular children, lost their lives. A tough policy was put in place in Operation Sovereign Borders. It's supported by this government, and it will remain in place, because it has worked. But it has resulted in some people being transferred offshore and being in detention because, when their applications were assessed, they failed security and criminal records checks.

But I want to make it clear, as the minister did, that as a principle this new government believes that if an asylum seeker has no security issues, health or safety issues or other adverse issues then they should be able to live in the community until their application is finalised. The new government is working to achieve that. There is a backlog, and we're trying to work through that backlog as quickly as possible, and the minister is doing a great job in doing that. We've also offered humanitarian visas to 8,600 Ukrainians in the interim, as well as people from Afghanistan. We are trying to do it as humanely as possible, but that principle of ensuring that people can live in the community if they have no adverse security issues remains. (Time expired)

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