Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. I suppose we are left with the situation where we have the opportunity here today to decide whether or not people living in the community with a bridging visa E and having their claims for asylum assessed should be able to work. The Australian Greens say that they should. This amendment is before the Senate today so that we can determine whether or not these people, some of whom are here for eight years and some of whom are here for a far shorter period, will be able to work. Some of those 7,000 people living in the community on a bridging visa E will have work rights—I am not quite sure how many—but many of them will not. In fact, I believe it was indicated to the Senate previously that the majority will not.

Should they have the capacity to contribute to the Australian community? Should people like the welder I spoke of previously, who has expertise in five different types of welding, any one of which would qualify him as a first-class welder for the skilled migration program, be allowed to do so? Should people like the head chef with 30 years experience in an international hotel chain be able to contribute? These are the questions the Senate is being asked today. Should these people be able to contribute to alleviating the skills shortage that exists in Australia and to the Australian economy? Should they be able to look after themselves as individuals and provide for their families or should they have to rely on the goodwill of the church and community organisations around this country? Just in Victoria and Tasmania the Uniting Church spends over $1 million looking after these people, so one can anticipate that, across the country, millions of dollars are being contributed through church and welfare organisations to provide for these people who are living in the community whilst their asylum claims are being assessed. Should they or should they not be able to work? That is the question the Senate is being asked today, and the Australian Greens say that they should.

The Australian Greens say that, during the years that these people are sometimes on bridging visas, they should be able to work, provide for their families, contribute to the Australian economy and be a part of our community. That is the contribution we would like to see, and the opportunity is here before us today to determine whether or not to give these people the opportunity to contribute their skills to our country and to provide for their families rather than to rely on the goodwill and the charity of the church organisations which currently provide for them—and which have to provide for them. They do not have access to work rights and they do not have access to the same Medicare services as others in the community. They are reliant on the goodwill and generosity of the Australian people. That goodwill and generosity is there amongst the Australian people, and we ask today that it be there on the part of the Australian government. That is the question which is before the Senate today and on which the Australian Greens say yes. Let these people earn an income and contribute to our community whilst they wait for their asylum claims to be assessed. I commend the amendment to the Senate.

Question put:

That the amendment (Senator Nettle’s) be agreed to.