David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

A race to the bottom—that's all you can see when you look at the Albanese government and the little Dutton-shaped devil on their shoulder. Some of the most marginalised people in the world came to Australia to rebuild their lives, and, instead of embracing them, we exiled them. We bribed our neighbours to become complicit in the cruelty, making Australia and the world a worse place in the process. For over a decade, families have been torn apart because the ALP and the coalition are in this disgusting competition amongst each other to see who can be the crueller.

Just look at the more than 50 refugees who were deported from Australia to PNG by the last government. They're still trapped with no home and no protection. Denied their basic rights and a home to rebuild their lives, they're subjected to violence on almost daily basis. Nurul Chawdury told the Guardian that he'd watched fellow refugees die through murder, medical neglect and suicide. 'Things are very bad at the moment. It's very hard,' he told the Guardian yesterday. 'Some days we eat, some days we don't eat.' Nurul Chawdury, his wife and their two young children are going hungry as the ALP and coalition play their games out in this chamber.

This MPI is asking entirely the wrong question. The real question is: who's protecting refugees from this government—who's protecting refugees from the ALP-coalition alliance of cruelty?