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

I rise today to add my contribution to this discussion. I do so reluctantly because this is a debate that has become embarrassing. This is a debate that has become unsightly, low and shameful, degrading our reputation and our Australian spirit of compassion and the values of a fair go. Instead of beating up on some of the world's most vulnerable people and appealing to the lowest of the lows, we should be appealing to our better angels. Once upon a time we did do this in this place. Once upon a time we had political leadership in this country that showed that compassion was a strength, that showed that offering people a helping hand was not just the right thing to do but was something to be proud of. There was support from all sides of the chamber to do this. Appealing to our better angels is something that all political leaders and participants in this place should be considering.

I will put some facts on the table. Since the end of World War II Australia has resettled almost 700,000 refugees. They have made an amazing, wonderful and important contribution to our country. Currently in Australia, asylum seekers make up only two per cent of Australia's entire annual migration intake. Last year, the 8,250 people who claimed asylum in Australia only amounted to 1.04 per cent of the global population of asylum seekers. Most asylum seekers who arrive in Australia arrive by plane, yet the majority of them are not found to be in genuine need of protection. Those who arrive by boat do not even make up a quarter of those who arrive by plane. Yet we have this toxic, debilitating, nasty, shameful debate about individuals who are so desperate for safety, protection and freedom for their families that they board a leaky boat. Those who lost their lives on the high seas in the last day or two did not take the decision to board that boat lightly. Asylum seekers who are coming to Australia asking for help are fleeing from countries of war. They are coming from places where they have been persecuted and tortured, and they are desperate for protection. And on that journey for safety coming through countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, countries that are not signatories to the refugee convention, that will not afford them genuine protection on their journey, they are faced with very little choice but to engage the operations of people smugglers.

There is much to do in the space of dealing with refugees and asylum seekers in this country. We need a response that Australia can be proud of, that upholds Australia's international obligations, that is underpinned by our values of a fair go and our Australian spirit of compassion. It means allowing people to resettle in this country with pride, not demonising those who are so desperate the only choice they have is to board a boat, working with our regional neighbours to avoid that perilous journey, offering safe pathways for people and resettling more people directly from the source countries that people are fleeing in the first place. And we have done that before. Under the Fraser government, under the guidance of immigration minister Macphee, we actually went to countries and took people because we wanted to offer them safety. It has been done before. The only difference is that there was political leadership at that time. There was an underpinning of what was right and an absolute strength and core belief not to go into what was wrong just because it perhaps seemed to be politically easy. It is about appealing to our better angels, not allowing ourselves to sink so low that we capitalise on the death of vulnerable people who die at sea.

It is about resettling more people directly, offering safer pathways, ensuring that we work with our regional neighbours, working with the NGOs and the UNHCR so they can assess more people's claims quicker and upholding commitments to resettle people from places like Malaysia and Indonesia. If we were to take 4,000 people from Malaysia per year who had already been assessed, that would make a significant contribution to helping resettle those who are most desperate, those who are not safe while they are in Malaysia. We should be working with Malaysia and Indonesia to encourage them to offer basic protections for these people so that while they are waiting for resettlement they are not continuing to be in fear of their life. We should be arguing that the best way for a regional protection framework to work is for Australia to show leadership and to set the standard. Why would countries in our region agree to treat people any differently than they do when they see Australia wanting to wash our hands of our responsibilities, when they see Australian politicians bickering like naughty schoolchildren in the schoolyard because the canteen has been closed? The behaviour in this place and the other place, the language that is used, the lack of information, the skewed facts, the rewriting of history do not just embarrass us as a parliament, they trash Australia's very proud history of standing up for very vulnerable people, doing what we can to offer a helping hand, ensuring that our spirit of compassion is something that we should be proud of. Why would you expect any other country in the region to act any differently when the leadership shown in this place is dismal?

It is time to put the bickering aside, stop blaming each other, stop trying to prove who can be the toughest and the nastiest. We are actually talking about individuals, people, children, men and women, who are so desperate that they take a journey that they know is risky. But it is because for them that is the only option available for their safety. If we want to avoid people taking this journey we need to set an example, help resettle more people, stop people from boarding boats in the first place and afford proper compassion, leadership and humanity for those who do arrive. Let us go to Afghanistan and find people that actually need to be resettled. Don't wait for them to have to engage a people smuggler. That is what our government has done in the past. It worked then and it could work now.