Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Singh, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) that 20 June 2017 is World Refugee Day,

(ii) the theme for 2017 is #withrefugees,

(iii) that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that there are 65.3 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, and 21.3 million refugees,

(iv) that Australia has an obligation under international law to support refugees and to make a fair contribution to the international efforts to aid refugees, and

(v) the extremely significant social and economic contribution refugees have made and continue to make to all aspects of Australian life; and

(b) calls for:

(i) a reasoned, principled and facts-based approach to the issue of asylum seekers and refugees,

(ii) Australia to continue to work with other nations and the United Nations (UN) to address the complex global and regional challenges associated with displaced people worldwide that cannot be addressed by countries acting on their own,

(iii) the Turnbull Government to match Labor's policy of increasing Australia's refugee intake to 27 000 by 2025, and

(iv) Australia to actively participate in the UN High Level Meeting on Refugees and Migrants, scheduled for 19 September in New York.