Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—This is one of those moments in which I despair. This is a generous nation with a credo of a fair go. What we know of the situation—and senators who did not see the Dateline program on SBS TV two nights ago might now refer to it—is that six Uighur men were arrested outside their country and transported for a bribe payment of $5,000 into what ended up being the prison at Guantanamo Bay. They have been found not to have any justified, verified or substantiated claims against them and have been placed on Palau, an island near Guam in the Pacific, with the agreement of the president of that little country of 20,000 people—and he seems to be a most accommodating, affable and friendly character—as they look to go somewhere to get their lives back. This motion simply asked that the Australian government consider that situation. It is a shortcoming that we cannot debate these motions in here, but I simply say this: we have a vibrant and healthy Uighur community in Australia. They would be most accepting of these innocent characters and it would be a gracious thing for us to consider their resettlement in this country. It would be a humane thing. It would be a fair thing. It would be an acknowledgement of our own humanity.