Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Community Safety, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

My questions are directed to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs who has joined us here today in the Federation Chamber, and I think it would be unfair for another Labor member to answer these questions because they very much relate to issues raised by the Afghan community directly with me. Why is the government scrapping a crucial visa program, the locally engaged employee visa program, otherwise known as the LEE program, for Afghans who worked for Australia, including interpreters who supported Australian soldiers? Why is Labor betraying Afghan interpreters who put their lives and even their families at risk to support Australian soldiers during the Afghan deployment? Why has the government abandoned processing refugee applications for potentially thousands of people trapped in Afghanistan? Do they now need to flee Afghanistan and enter the neighbouring countries of Iran and Pakistan, for example, to have their visas processed? Does this mean that the thousands of Afghans currently trapped in Afghanistan must either face remaining there under the Taliban rule or undertake a dangerous trip across the border?

Just for background, the previous coalition government created this crucial LEE visa program to protect Afghans who supported our troops. After Labor promised the world to Afghan communities during the election campaign, this is how they are treated. The previous coalition government evacuated around 4,600 Afghan refugees in a few days and committed to a strong humanitarian intake of Afghan nationals with around 31,500 visas processed, and I understand this will also be hopefully honoured by the new government. Many Afghan families are still waiting to be reunited with loved ones, and Labor is crushing their hopes until they get some answers. The Department of Home Affairs has stated that anyone in Afghanistan it does not consider a priority—to be honest, everyone over there should be a priority—will have their applications refused. It says it cannot carry out background checks since the Islamic group reclaimed the country in August 2021. This leaves thousands of Afghans trapped in Afghanistan who now must either remain or flee.

My second minor question for the immigration minister is around the Local Multicultural Projects grant opportunity opened on 7 February 2023. Will the minister please explain the reason for the closed non-competitive process of this grant, considering there are many multicultural communities across Australia, other than those who were invited to apply, who are also deserving candidates for this grant? Will the minister please explain what consultation process was undertaken by the Department of Home Affairs to determine the eligibility criteria for applicants for the grant? How is it fair to the wider multicultural community to fund only those organisations who were invited to apply for the grant?

For some background on this, on 7 February 2023 the Department of Home Affairs opened Local Multicultural Projects grant opportunities via the community grants hub, and closed it on 20 February. There were only 13 days to apply. The total funding was just over $5 million over three years. The purposes and objectives of the program were to support organisations with grants, to develop new multicultural infrastructure, including places of worship, to upgrade existing multicultural committee facilities, and to celebrate key multicultural events and festivals, which we all agree are very worthy. But the eligibility of applicants was determined by their ability to identify and deliver to their local communities events, services and amenities which met program objectives. However, no further organisations will be invited to apply, so it was very much an open-and-shut case. The grant opportunities closed the non-competitive grant selection process. The department considers that is an appropriate type of selection process. Does the minister agree that is a fair way to conduct a grants process considering the previous Labor opposition was so scathing of programs under the Liberal government supporting, in particular, migrant communities and places of worship when they had been attacked? I respectfully request that the minister respond to these questions at the appropriate time.

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