Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Again, it's very easy to dehumanise people seeking safety. It's very easy to paint them with the brush that somehow they are all to be feared. But the reality is that we are talking about parents caring about their children—children who are at risk and are in a horrendous situation.

So, after the events and the horrendous situation they found themselves in, Mohammed sought to bring his family to safety, and he was able to. My community of the Northern Beaches—the community of North Steyne Surf Life Saving Club—rallied behind this family. They applied for visas, supported them and sponsored them, by hook or by crook. The details of how they were able to reach safety are quite incredible. They were able to get out, and I met with them only a few weeks ago in my office in Manly. They're beautiful children who deserve the opportunity to grow up, to go to school and to have an education.

So to suggest that families like Mohammed's family are not deserving of being able to escape a war zone and seek safety for their children is offensive, and it goes against what it is to be Australian, which is to be there for people in need and to offer safety and security to people who deserve it. So I am offended by the rhetoric from the Leader of the Opposition, the nature of this motion for suspension of standing orders and the continued attempts to divide Australian society on these lines and issues. We are better than this. We've just seen the Olympic Games, where we've got the idea that sport is bringing people together, and you are doing everything you can to separate and divide our communities.

We are a multinational, multicultural country, Member for Kennedy. We are multicultural, and it is important to remember that.

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