Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

as long as there are people fleeing persecution. We need to find a better way. Of course we do not want people having to take that treacherous trip across the ocean. Of course it is dangerous. We know that. Senator Brandis has just pointed that out. It absolutely is dangerous. But simply pushing boats back and saying that it is not our problem is not the resolution that we need in terms of taking on our responsibilities and having a humane approach. It may be tough but I would not say it is fair.

We need a better approach. We need a real solution, something that Australia owns—an Australian solution perhaps. We need a Prime Minister who will not see each boat as a crisis and give the oxygen to fuel the flames of those who would prefer we did not take any refugees. We need a Prime Minister who has the leadership to say: ‘I want to make a difference. I think we need a new way forward. Let’s do it calmly. Let’s be practical. But let’s ensure that humane treatment, fairness and those people who are the most vulnerable are at the centre of the discussion.’ We have not seen this to date from the Prime Minister or the opposition leader.

I am very disappointed that the opposition announced late last week that they would reintroduce temporary protection visas. It is a very big mistake. Malcolm Turnbull has not learnt one thing from his predecessors. It did not work then; it will not work now. It was not humane then; it is not humane now. It is a sad indictment that the leadership of the opposition has not been able to come up with a better solution than simply reverting to the past.

I think the government, the Prime Minister and the leadership within the Labor Party need to stand up and show what difference they will make. Temporary protection visas, pushing boats back and saying it is someone else’s problem—that it is okay if children are held behind bars as long as it does not happen on Australian soil—are not appropriate. If we agree that those things are not appropriate then what is the government going to do? Making a crisis out of every single boat that comes along is not the solution. We need a long-term, practical and humane approach. It is not good enough to be a wolf dressed up in sheep’s clothing. This is the challenge to the Prime Minister: take a stand and say that we will take people, because people need to be protected; that we will have a process but we will do it properly, we will do it humanely and we will treat people with dignity; and that we will not say, ‘Because you have not crossed this line, you are not our problem.’ We are all part of the global community and if for one moment we were able to think about how we would act if it was us and our children then I think we would be making very different decisions.