Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Migration Amendment (Bridging Visa Conditions) Bill 2023, which is an absolute disgrace. It is an attack on democracy, on our courts, on the rule of law, on liberty and on freedom, all dressed up as one big attempt by Mr Dutton, helped here by the government of the day, to launch a new, full-blown attack on refugees in this country. For years and years, we have seen successive governments use some of the most vulnerable people around the world and in our community, who have come to Australia seeking our assistance, protection and help—refugees—as political footballs. They have been used to win elections, destroy prime ministerships, take power and excuse other bad laws being introduced. And here we are all over again. You'd think we would have learnt by now. You'd think we would have learnt that, every time this place rams through legislation that is designed to attack and undermine the rights of refugees right around the world and who come to our shores asking for our help, eventually the day would come when a brave judge or bench of judges would stand up and say: 'You know what? This is not on. Some things actually are important to uphold.' That's exactly what the High Court has done in the last fortnight—that indefinite detention is illegal. That's what the High Court has ruled. Rather than that warning being taken and understood, what we have seen is now a kneejerk reaction from the Albanese government, at the behest and under the political pressure of Mr Dutton's opposition.

Let me be absolutely clear. I know there are members of the Labor Party who are hanging their heads in shame this afternoon. They know that ramming this piece of legislation through is wrong, is immoral and goes against everything that, as members of the Labor Party, they believe. Yet here they are, jumping at the shadows, the scares and the fear campaign from Peter Dutton and his party. All Mr Dutton has is the politics of fear. We've seen that this year already with the opposition to the voice and the way Peter Dutton and his nasty party behaved during the referendum—the spreading of lies, misinformation and disinformation, whipping up fear, hatred and racism. He got a taste of it only a few months ago, and he's bloodthirsty for it again—bloodthirsty for the fear. That is Peter Dutton to a T.