Annette Hurley (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Today is World Refugee Day. Every year on 20 June the UNHCR recognises the plight of refugees through this day and highlights to the global community the tragic and often barbaric circumstances which lead to a person becoming a refugee. Events such as civil wars, ethnic persecution and religious violence have resulted in the UNHCR estimating there are 20.8 million refugees worldwide. Sadly, on this exact day one year ago, that number was approximately 17 million people. There has been an increase, therefore, of over three million people.

International law states that refugees are people who are unable or unwilling to return to their countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or social group. Refugees are not illegal immigrants, as many in this place and outside would have us believe, and they are definitely not immigrants who have simply chosen to seek residence in a country of their choice in order to improve their life. The criteria for determining refugees are firm and strict, and Australia is a signatory to the conventions around those criteria. The simple fact is that some refugees have seen and experienced events that none of us here will ever be able to comprehend. They have been persecuted, abused, tortured and forced to be soldiers during their childhood. They have witnessed the killing of family members and neighbours, as well as having other awful atrocities, such as rape, forced upon them.

Australia has chosen to take in another group of immigrants—skilled migrants. It is fortunate that this country is able to attract highly educated and talented people to assist us in our need for highly skilled people and our need for population. It is our privilege to take such skilled migrants, and many people wish to come to our country. But it is also our duty as a prosperous and compassionate country to provide refuge to those who need it most. Australia has done that now and in the past. Those refugees and their family groups have been shown to have contributed strongly to this country, from the new Australians who came in the 1950s to the Vietnamese, the Cambodians and other Asian refugees who came to us 30 years ago. Hopefully, we will continue to take refugees for as long as there are refugees. The sad truth seems to be that there will always be refugees throughout the world.

Other countries also take their share and under very difficult circumstances. Australia is an island a long distance away from those countries. There are countries in Europe and other parts of the world where it is relatively easy for refugees to seek refuge. Many countries have millions of people on their borders seeking to come in. In these circumstances we should be embarrassed at the government’s response to a few West Papuans who seek to come to our country. The proposal is that they be processed offshore and then go to a third country of refuge. The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Michael Somare, was quoted recently in the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier as saying:

When they—

the West Papuans, that is—

go to Australian soil, it’s Australia’s responsibility to deal with them. We don’t set up places where we process refugees who come to our country.

In other words, he is saying that Australia has a responsibility to deal with its own refugees and it is not the responsibility of Papua New Guinea or any other country to take them. Statements like this add another layer of shame to our country as the world now sees that our poorer neighbours are adhering to their global responsibilities yet we seek to evade them.

It is important to note on a day such as this our responsibility to those refugees that the government does choose to accept in accordance with the United Nations convention. Responsibility does not end on their arrival. We in this country make a long-term commitment to them so that they can settle with dignity and then begin contributing to Australian society in the way in which they wish to. The settlement services provided under the International Humanitarian Settlement Service are better in many, if not most, areas than they were for the refugees in the fifties and even for those from Asia 30 years ago. However, there is a lot of room for improvement. The main aspect which needs to be reassessed is the IHSS contract itself. The fact that it is designed around providing a minimum standard is a major failing of this government because the initial settlement period is crucial for new arrivals and to cut corners is a mistake.

Once refugees exit the IHSS program, usually after six months, they still require assistance of a less intensive nature. Migrant resource centres and other migrant resource services, such as the Australian Refugee Association in my own state of South Australia, are crucial in this aspect. They offer assistance ranging from healthy cooking classes to African women’s groups to homework clubs for children needing extra support. Programs such as these, as well as countless others which are offered, alleviate pressure on existing government services and this helps all Australians.

This brings me to my final point and one which relates to today being World Refugee Day. Many of our most recent Australian citizens are from refugee backgrounds and they and their children strive to be upstanding citizens of Australia. They want to work, learn English and contribute in general. Like many of us, they need assistance in areas such as job seeking, schooling and child care, and it is the government’s obligation to provide this assistance. But we have seen more funding cuts in this area. The most recent slashing of funding occurred in Western Australia, where the Ethnic Child Care Resource Unit had its budget slashed from $340,000 to $190,000 a year. Child-care workers and ECCRU provide excellent bilingual support and care for children from non-English-speaking backgrounds. The services provided by ECCRU and other such organisations prepare Aussie kids from migrant backgrounds, many of whom are former refugees, for the rigours of mainstream schooling. By cutting funds, the Howard government will create greater demands on our schools and staff and this will affect all Australian children in the long run due to the strain placed on this service.

It is not just me who feels this way. I have almost 2,000 petition signatures addressed to Minister Brough from people expressing their concern about the impact that this funding cut will have on the ECCRU. They are requesting the minister to review it due to the potential damage to all child-care users. The petitioners, as described in the covering letter, are very concerned about the funding allocation that has been made for the bicultural support pool in the state of Western Australia. The signatures are from a great diversity of people including child-care centres, family day care schemes, ethnic community associations, ethnic members and workers of our community and other concerned community members. They wish to reiterate that the reduced funding for the service delivery and training of the bicultural support workers is considered totally inadequate for the delivery of quality bicultural support services. I feel it is very appropriate on World Refugee Day to seek leave to table these petitions as documents here today as they are not in accordance with standing orders for presenting petitions. I seek leave to table the petitions.

Leave granted.