Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the preceding senators for their contributions so far, and I join with Senator Scarr in considering this legislation. I, too, have been reflecting upon comments that have been made to me by Pacific island nations representatives as they have come to Canberra over the last couple of years. I've had the great pleasure of taking the opportunity to speak to many delegations about the issues that matter most to them and what they want to see Australia doing. I particularly want to reflect on that in the context of this bill being framed as necessary, important and responsive to Australia's need to engage more thoroughly with our region.

When I reflect on those conversations, what is absolutely undeniable—you just cannot get away from it—is the reality that Pacific island nations leaders have come again and again to Australia with a very clear message: please stop burning coal, oil and gas, because our homes and our sacred sites—so intimately linked to our sense of individual and national identity—are literally going below the surface of the water, driven by climate change. They have come to Canberra over and over again, telling their stories and giving their time and energy. They've often done so alongside Australians who have brought to this place the ashes which are all that remain of their homes, burnt to the ground by climate driven firestorms. Yet the government putting this legislation forward and the opposition making its contribution to this debate are on a unity ticket when it comes to opening up new coal, oil and gas.

In my own state of Western Australia, the federal government is teaming up with the state Labor government to support the Scarborough gas hub. This is a project which, on its own, would obliterate all of the efforts being made not only by Australia but by so many nations around the world to tackle the climate crisis—wiping those efforts out in one fell swoop—and yet the response of the federal and state governments is not to take heed of the science and not to focus on the needs of Pacific island neighbours, or the needs of Australian community members, suffering right now on the front lines of the climate crisis. The response of the major parties is to demonise members of the Western Australian community who take non-violent direct action to bring public attention to the reality of the impact of what is being done on the Burrup.

While I join with Senator Scarr in centring this debate upon the needs of Pacific island neighbours, and while I deeply acknowledge that more needs to be done to strengthen the relationship between Australia and our Pacific island neighbours, I would go on to observe that, if we want to engage in that work with any semblance of integrity or authenticity, the very least we could do is to stop pouring fuel on the fire of the climate crisis, to stop bailing water into their boats as they are trying to survive.

I would also turn to the material of this legislation. As my colleague Senator McKim has observed, Australia's migration laws are deeply ableist in nature. That has to be named and called out as we dealing with this migration bill. Our migration laws are ableist. They actively discriminate against disabled people, in violation of Australia's obligations under international law and in violation of any basic sense of human compassion and a commitment to a shared human dignity. We need to change these rules and recognise the positive contribution that disabled people make to our society.

The current rules, to get into the specifics, are exempt from the Disability Discrimination Act. I do wonder whether the person or government that put forward that particular amendment had a particularly bad day that led them to believe, as they wrote that piece of legislation, 'I am exempting a piece of Australian law from the Disability Discrimination Act. That's okay. That's something a government should do.' And yet I am immediately disabused of that idea because of the fact that both sides of politics have upheld this discriminatory exemption for decades and still defend it to this day. To this day they still waste opportunities to rectify it.

The impact of this, what this practically leads to, is the unjust deportation of disabled children born in Australia, denying them opportunities, and denying the opportunity of disabled people to migrate to Australia. This is wrong. This is deeply wrong. Anybody that can still reach within themselves that basic compassion and sense of humanity will feel and know that it is wrong.

The Greens are committed to amending the Disability Discrimination Act removing the migration exemption and putting an end to this blatant discrimination. By doing so, Australia will further fulfil its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I am proud to co-sponsor amendments to achieve this very goal to this legislation alongside my colleague Senator McKim, who in the course of our deliberation on this legislation and our collective work together has demonstrated the true nature of allyship in the disability space. I thank him and his team for that. Allyship becomes material, allyship becomes meaningful, when it is put into action. That is what Senator McKim and his team have demonstrated during this legislative consideration period.

The amendments we will move together will go some way to reforming our immigration system. We will move to ensure that families will not be deported if they have a disabled child once they have come to Australia. The amendment we will put forward during the course of the debate would end the ability of the Australian government to deport Australian children born in Australia when their families are here on temporary visas. It's such a basic request. Can you imagine what it feels like to have gone through all of the steps, often paid all of the money, and all the bureaucracy of getting a temporary protection visa? And then the joy of knowing you are going to bring a new life into the world and expand your family. Often the fear and uncertainty when you find out the child you are bringing into the world might be a disabled child, because you are so often told by the medical system that that is something to be afraid of, something to be ashamed of. Imagine going through all that, and then you find out that just because your kid's autistic or has a learning difference, because they have an intellectual disability, your child will be deported by the Australian government. Can you imagine how that feels? For years we have seen reported in the news the high number of high-profile cases of families who have had to appeal to stay in Australia. Some families have been a part of our communities for decades. The law discriminates against many, including those with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism and young people who are non-verbal.