Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about what this matter of public importance is actually about, and that is about the fate of those innocent people languishing in a jail where water and sanitation have been cut off. It is a humanitarian catastrophe, a crisis that needs to be resolved, and resolved urgently.

We now have over 400 men enclosed in the former detention centre, where food, water, sanitation and medical supplies, including medication, have been cut off from these people. Now, as a doctor, I can only imagine what the health consequences of these actions will be. We are going to see the spread of disease as a result of the lack of access to clean drinking water and to sanitation. That is a sure thing if this continues.

We know that many of these people are traumatised. They have fled wars. They have fled persecution and trauma. These are traumatised people, many of whom are depressed and many of whom are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Their psychotropic medication has now been withdrawn. We know that the abrupt withdrawal of medication like that can precipitate suicide. We know that people will die. Anti-convulsant medication has been taken away from people with epilepsy. It is remarkable that here we are in 21st century Australia and we have a government that is prepared to inflict more cruelty and more trauma on innocent people who are suffering. These aren't just the words of the Greens or of refugee advocates. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch have said this. We've heard Amnesty International describe what has happened to these people as torture. They are all saying this is a humanitarian crisis.