Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

You're right, I haven't seen the conditions. Despite being part of a Senate committee in the last term which sought government permission to travel to Manus and Nauru, I was denied the ability to travel. I would have liked very much to have gone and seen with my own eyes the conditions, but I was prevented from doing so by this government. I remain interested in going and seeing the conditions there because, as you probably know, I have some history in representing some of the people who are detained and have been detained in Nauru, and I would like to see the conditions. If the government is prepared to allow a little bit more scrutiny of what is going on there, I think that would be a very healthy thing.

To listen to Senator Fierravanti-Wells, you would think that Manus and Nauru are tropical island paradise resorts. She's talking about the wonderful opportunities that people have taken up to set up businesses in these places, and I'm sure that there are some people who have made the best of a terrible situation, but I don't think that anyone who has observed it—whether firsthand or through listening to witness reports from credible organisations that have been contracted by this government to deliver services on those islands—would agree with the portrayal that Senator Fierravanti-Wells has just put forward.

I'm well aware that the issue of border protection and the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees has become one of the most toxic areas of political debate in this country over the last few years. It has been used by both extremes of politics as a weapon, as a culture war, to try to drive up the votes on the extreme end of politics, doing absolutely nothing to assist the people who are subjected to the conditions that continue in both Manus and Nauru. There remains, unfortunately, much that we will disagree on in how refugees and asylum seekers should be treated, whether they be people who are currently living in Australia or people who are currently in offshore detention as a result of this parliament's policies.

But while there is much that we can disagree on and will continue to disagree on, surely we can agree on one thing—that is, that people still in detention in Manus and Nauru have been there far too long and should be removed as a matter of urgency. Even in question time today, we continued to hear this government make the ridiculous assertion that these people are not in detention. It's not as if they can leave Manus. It's not as if they can leave Nauru and travel wherever they want. They are strictly controlled to this day. Their movement is strictly controlled. Their opportunities to rebuild a life are strictly controlled, so let's not have this ridiculous argument that these people are free to come and go as they please, because they're not. That is the truth.

Even the most ardent supporter of a tough position on border protection and offshore detention would accept that these unfortunate people—human beings: men, women and children—have been in detention in these places for far too long and it has, in far too many cases, caused irreparable harm to their lives, irreparable harm to their mental health and irreparable physical harm in some cases. Unfortunately—more than unfortunately, tragically—a number of people have died, sometimes at their own hand because of their own despondency about their situation. We've had report after report from independent observers, from organisations that have been contracted by this very government to support people in detention in Manus and Nauru, that have told us that the harm being perpetrated on people in these detention centres is dreadful and it must end.

The real tragedy is that there actually is a way through this to stop this human misery and to get these people out to get on with their lives—that is, by the government simply following through on its professed policy that these people will be resettled in third countries. This is something that Labor have consistently supported. We've supported the government's policy that people currently in detention in Manus and Nauru need to be resettled in third countries. We just want the government to get on and do it. And it's not as if the government doesn't have opportunities to do so. Shortly I'll talk about the opportunities that remain available to the government if it's actually serious about delivering on its policy to resettle people.

When it comes to Manus, which is obviously a part of Papua New Guinea, this very day we have the new Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea in this parliament undertaking official meetings. He is on the record as recently saying that he wants to see a deadline for ending offshore processing in his country. He says that it should end as soon as possible. I understand that, after his meetings today with various officials from the government, he said that 'we will ensure that we have a mutually workable timetable and closure program' for the offshore detention facilities. I think that all of us who have an interest in this issue would be very interested to know what this time line is. What time line is the government working towards to end the offshore detention program so that these people can be resettled in other countries and get on with their lives?

One of the other resettlement options that this government has put up involved Cambodia. We remember the government saying a number of years ago that it had reached an agreement with the government of Cambodia that that would be another place for people on Manus and Nauru to be resettled. This agreement has now lapsed, not surprisingly, because it's been such an abject failure. But not without cost—obviously, a cost to the people who undertook that program, but it's actually cost taxpayers $55 million to run a resettlement program with Cambodia. And guess how many people have actually been resettled in Cambodia? It's three. Three people were resettled in Cambodia at a cost of $55 million. So we're nearly up to $20 million per person who was resettled in Cambodia. What a terrific success that is from this government, which likes to say that it's a success in matters of border protection!

Obviously, we've got the arrangement with the US to resettle people. Again, Labor has been supportive of that. But that has moved far too slowly and has still not seen the full allocation taken up that was agreed to by the US government under President Obama. It would be good to see the government actually deliver on that agreement as well, and ensure that the full allocation that was committed to by the US is taken up.

Most obviously, we've got the resettlement arrangements involving New Zealand. For years now, governments in New Zealand of both political persuasions have offered to take people from Manus and Nauru. What could be better from an Australian perspective than having a near neighbour whose values and systems of government we share, like New Zealand, help be part of the solution here? And they remain willing to take 150 people, I think it is, from Manus and Nauru. But, day after day, despite that offer being on the table and being available to take some of these people who remain in detention out, to let them rebuild their lives—we've got a country which is actually willing to do this—this stubborn government, which thinks that it's solved this problem, continues to reject that offer that's been made available by New Zealand. As a consequence, these poor people remain in detention as a result of this government's decision.

We hear arguments from the government that to take up the New Zealand offer would restart the boats. Well, how many times have we heard that something would start up the boats, only to see that not occur? We were told last year, and we continue to be told, that the medevac legislation would restart the boats. It hasn't. Every time this government has claimed that something would restart the boats it hasn't happened. They should take up the New Zealand offer and get these people out.