Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will rise tonight to talk about the global coronavirus pandemic, but first I want to talk about a little girl who is turning five today. Kopika, I want to wish you a very happy fifth birthday, and your family. Sadly, although she was born here in Australia, Kopika, her parents, Priya and Nades and her two-year-old sister, Tharunicaa, are marking this day in immigration detention at Christmas Island. It is the third birthday that Kopika has had in detention. Torn away from the community where they had made their home in Biloela Queensland tonight this family remains in limbo with no certainty as to their future or whether they will deported. They have had the last two years stolen from them by this government. These little girls and their parents have suffered to a level that is hard to fathom. There is no reason for this except that the Morrison government is wanting to make a point at the expense of this family. With the stroke of a pen the government could end this and they could return to Biloela where their community are lobbying tirelessly for their return.

I again add my voice to Labor's calls on the government to please show compassion and justice to this family, to end their agony and to welcome them back into the Australian community. I add my voice to say that no little girl in Australia should celebrate their birthday in detention, because no little girl should be in detention. No family should be treated like this in this country. To Kopika and your family, I want to let you know that so many Australians care about you and so many people in Canberra write to me about your situation all the time. I want to again wish you a special day on their behalf.

I also want to talk about coronavirus tonight. It has taken over our lives but it has brought out the best of our community here in Canberra and across Australia. Canberra has had 107 confirmed cases, 104 recoveries, over 11,800 negative test results and, tragically, three deaths. I want to give my deepest sympathies to the families and friends who have lost a loved one, including my colleague the member for Cooper, Ged Kearney and her partner, Leigh, who lost his father, Mike, a member of our Canberra community.

I want to thank Canberrans for staying home. Your efforts have protected not only your own health but those most vulnerable in our community. I want to thank our doctors; nurses; medical professionals; cleaners, who play such a critical role in combatting this virus; supermarket workers; bus and light rail workers, who continue to operate our public transport; public servants, who have been working so hard to deliver services and on the policy response; Canberra businesses, who are innovating so well to continue serving our community; our early childhood educators, who have been keeping this essential service running in spite of challenges exacerbated by the government's package; our teachers, who have pivoted quickly to deliver online learning and who are now pivoting back over the coming weeks and months to teach our children in the classroom once again; our community organisations, who are providing support to those left behind by the Morrison government during this pandemic.

I also particularly want to thank the ACT government, in particular our Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, and health minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith. I've taken great comfort and pride in the ACT government's response, leading the way from the start and ensuring that we've are so well prepared. They've also been working to support the people left out of the federal government's response, including temporary visa holders, creating the Jobs for Canberrans Fund and supporting our local arts sector.

People have been left behind in this response, and one group I want to talk about in particular is students. I'm so pleased that Labor is calling on the government to lift the parental income test on youth allowance during this crisis on a case-by-case basis so that there is something through which our young people can have some support to survive. The ANU Students Association in my electorate delivered 47 emergency grants in the whole of 2019 and in the last 4½ months they have delivered 539 at a value of over $337,000, which really shows the level of need in the community. We must extend support to everyone. People cannot be left behind. We're keen to work with the government constructively on this.