Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, and as someone who listens carefully to the views of the people I serve, I wish to address the clear concerns of Australians who object to noncitizens trying to find a backdoor way into this country. These refugee claimants, who have not yet been found to be genuine refugees, tried to come to Australia by boat, avoiding the normal processes of applying for a visa beforehand. These people are queue-jumpers, trying to beat the system and get an advantage over the people who follow the rules and who will make good citizens. These are people who have not yet been fully vetted for security and criminal history and have been housed offshore with regional processing countries until their claims have been fully dealt with. These people do not respect our country's sovereignty.

The Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Act was passed in early 2019 with the support of Labor, the Greens and with some crossbench support—not that of One Nation. The government voted against the measures because the measures made it much easier for claimants to seek medical transfers to Australia from Nauru and Manus Island, with only the say-so of two unspecified doctors. Under these recent provisions, 135 people have already been transferred to Australia for medical treatment up to 21 October 2019, almost doubling in number since 31 July 2019. Security and criminal history checks for these people had not even been finalised, but they're here. There were 562 claimants living across Manus Island and Nauru as at 30 September 2019. Security and criminal history checks have not been completed for these remaining claimants.

One Nation support this bill because we are concerned that Labor and the Greens are absurdly soft on national security issues. There is nothing more important than human life and the protection of our borders. We know, for example, that there are at least 562 dishonest asylum seekers being processed who did not make it as far as Australia and who may well be a significant danger to the Australian people. Many have come from violent backgrounds and see violence as normal behaviour. Some may intend to harm the Australian way of life. Australia is no longer immune to international terror. In the last few days, we have seen that another two innocent young people have been murdered by a committed terrorist after a release from prison in England, having served only eight years of his 16-year sentence and still so full of hate and violence that he was a danger to society.

Under the current Australian law, it is easy for a claimant to simply self-harm and then seek transfer to Australia for medical treatment. Why is this so popular? The answer is easy. Currently, there are no legislative means to return the claimant to a regional processing country after medical treatment has been provided. What a great way to get to Australia. Labor and the Greens do not respect Australian sovereignty. What is the current process to get here? All that is needed is to convince two doctors—irrespective of those doctors' personal views—that it is necessary for the claimant to receive treatment in Australia. The doctors do not even have to see the patient; a decision based on the papers is sufficient. Come on! We did not come down in the last shower. This is the blueprint to get around Australia's border protection. That is it. A recent example of the stupidity of this arrangement is the claimant who injected his penis with palm oil in an alleged attempt to enlarge his penis and get to Australia. The resultant swelling led to a claim to seek Australian medical assistance, and he was promptly sent to Australia for treatment, with no way to return him. Yes, this is obscene in more ways than one.

Australians deserve to be secure and safe from potential terrorist activity. We also expect our government to provide systems that promote fair and safe means to deal with genuine refugees. These were already in place prior to the miscellaneous measures bill earlier this year. Claimants offshore requiring medical treatment could receive it in our country in emergencies. One event that prompted the miscellaneous measures bill involved a man who eventually received treatment for an infection, but it was too late to save his life. This tragedy was not because of faulty legislation but due to bureaucratic delay. The resulting legislation was unnecessary and has created a loophole for claimants to get to Australia instead of having their claims for refugees status processed offshore.

One Nation stands for the rights and interests of Australians. We put the wellbeing of Australians first. No apologies—we put the interests and wellbeing of Australians first. We respect Australian sovereignty, and we respect Australia. One Nation is the only party that really listens to Australians. I've travelled widely around Australia to listen to the thoughts, feelings and concerns of farmers, miners, factory workers, small businesses, and the many Aussies who are doing it tough.

What I am sick and tired of is the bleating of Labor and the Greens telling us how to live our lives and putting us at risk—putting scrub and swampland in front of human needs for water and telling us that we need unreliable, expensive sources of electricity instead of reliable and cheap clean-coal power. The true ecowarriors are our farmers, who know more about water management and the protection of the environment than most of those here in the Canberra bubble. These farmers are the real environmentalists. The crops and pastures and bushland on their properties are a healthy habitat for many native species that are dying otherwise because of a lack of water. Many of those farming heroes are here today. Look around outside. Some are staying here tonight. They all came here to Parliament House to express their concerns for the need for good management of our valuable water resources, and for good management and leadership of our country. They even brought some rain. This is no laughing matter, as water is the lifeblood of all these protesters today. These are protesters with a legitimate message. I've travelled the length of the Murray and across the Murray-Darling Basin to listen to people affected by the mismanagement of our water resources. From the Warrego in the north to the Goulburn in the south, from Albury in the east to Goolwa in the west, we need to fix water policy. So stop talking and take action now. These farmers, I am sure, have something else in common with One Nation: farmers believe it is the Australian way to give someone a fair go, and letting a queue-jumper enjoy a free ride into Australia does not pass the pub test, because it is not fair to allow this to happen.

What has been missing to date is sound leadership of our nation. We still don't see a vision from the government. We need leadership to make the long-term decisions that will secure our country's future. We need leadership that guides decisions to build the infrastructure necessary to manage the foreseeable natural climate variability that farmers for thousands of years have endured. Building dams, pipelines, levies and more are some ways to manage our water supplies. Even the ancient Egyptians, thousands of years ago, had sound water-management policies. We need leadership that recognises the sovereignty of Australia and the ability to be self-sufficient and not reliant on others in the short term. We need to stop selling off Australia to overseas interests, or there will be little left to call Australia. We support this bill and commend the government for presenting it. I support this bill.