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

I rise to talk about the matter of public importance regarding refugees and asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea, on Manus Island, and in Nauru. The offshore facilities on Manus Island and Nauru were set up as temporary offshore regional processing centres six years ago, but they have become a symbol of something much more. They have become a sign of the ongoing failure of this government and of one minister: the Minister for Home Affairs. This government and this minister blame Labor for a problem entirely of their own creation. They have been in charge now for six years and can no longer attempt to claim this is all Labor's fault. This is six years of Liberal failure and inaction that has been allowed to unfold under this government. Six years of detention is simply too long, and the reality remains that asylum seekers and refugees both on Nauru and in PNG have been left in limbo.

The offshore processing facilities on Manus Island and Nauru were only ever intended to be temporary offshore regional processing centres, but they have now become places of indefinite detention. Let's not forget who has led us to this place, where refugees and asylum seekers are kept in indefinite detention: the Minister for Home Affairs. If he was a minister who was capable of doing his job, then vulnerable people would not be left languishing. This government have created this ongoing problem themselves, and Minister Dutton has refused to act on it. But worst of all, he has constantly misled the Australian people.

I want to refer to a well-known fable that best encapsulates the minister and his actions: Aesop's fable 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'. It is a fable we all know reasonably well. We all know how awful the shepherd boy must have felt when he realised the consequences of crying wolf too many times. Aesop's fable was right then, and his fable is right now. We have a Minister for Home Affairs who has constantly been caught crying wolf. This is a minister who holds one of the most powerful positions in the Prime Minister's cabinet. This is a minister who has a key leadership role in keeping our nation safe. This is a minister responsible for national security, intelligence, immigration and border protection agencies. How can Australians believe a minister who routinely manipulates, misrepresents and mischaracterises the truth for political gain, as the Minister for Home Affairs has done so very often?

Let's take a look at the medevac debate. Since the medevac laws were enacted, the minister has approved the transfer of a number of sick and unwell refugees and asylum seekers to Australia. Some were transferred after being assessed by the Independent Health Advice Panel. This panel includes some of Australia's best doctors—doctors that the minister got to choose himself—including the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer and the Surgeon General of the Australian Border Force. But despite this, the minister has been vigorously arguing that two doctors from Nimbin can force the government to bring people from Manus or Nauru to Australia. These claims are simply not true, and the minister knows it. This is the same minister who claimed thousands of people would flood into Australia through medevac. This hasn't happened. This is all bluster from the minister, and it should worry us all when we have a minister that is so comfortable with regularly crying wolf, because what will happen when we face a serious risk? This should be a concern for all Australians.

But it isn't just his crying wolf on this issue that has damaged the Minister for Home Affairs. There is also a raft of other issues that go to his maladministration of his department. The failure of the Minister for Home Affairs to do his job, his mismanagement of basic legislative tasks and the mismanagement of the home affairs department are what should concern us. Whether it's overseeing a $300 million Australian Border Force budget blowout resulting in the Australian Border Force fleet being ordered to stop patrols to save money on fuel, putting Australia's borders at risk; the $7 million spent on a strategic review of the Department of Home Affairs that we're not allowed to see; ANAO report after report after report that highlights significant mismanagement and waste; or the minister's failure to manage offshore contracts, with hundreds of millions of dollars handed out without proper process, these issues of mismanagement simply go on and on. We must ask: when will the minister step up and take responsibility for his ongoing mismanagement?

So it is not a surprise that the minister hasn't been able to ensure the resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers currently on Manus Island and Nauru. And it is no wonder the minister has always played games with the issue when he has the backing of a prime minister who has tried to play politics with this issue as well. The Prime Minister has used every opportunity to spread fear, like his ridiculous decision to reopen the Christmas Island detention centre. This was a hysterical response from the Prime Minister, the minister and the government. The actions of the Prime Minister and the minister highlight the general attitude of this government and their resolve to provide a solution to the issue of offshore processing and indefinite detention.

This brings me to the point of resettlement deals and New Zealand. We have had a deal on the table for years, and there has been no action from this government even to accept it. It is a deal that would allow people to resettle and rebuild their lives after six years of indefinite detention on Manus Island and Nauru. Labor has long called for this deal to be accepted. It was an offer that the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinta Ardern, reiterated again only the other day. She has reiterated it again and again.

Now, there's an important issue and an important point to make on this debate. There are a number of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru who have been offered resettlement in the United States as part of the resettlement deal with the US. We need to make sure that those who have offers on the table take them up and make a start to rebuild their lives. The United States deal is one that should be grasped with both hands. It provides people with a chance to build a new home and to resettle. Labor strongly support the deal and we want to see people take it up. The minister should be working as hard as he can to ensure that these resettlement arrangements are taken up and that people do have the ability to be resettled and to take up new opportunities and new lives.

Finally, it is important to note that, on border protection, Labor's message is clear: if you try to make it to Australia by boat, you will not make it. You will be turned around if it is safe. Labor supports Operation Sovereign Borders. We support strong borders. But we fundamentally believe that you can have strong borders and also that you can show humanity and you can show compassion to refugees and asylum seekers. Humanity and compassion are both very simple to put forward, but they are definitely two things that this government seems to have completely forgotten about.