Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Payman. Can I first say what an outstanding member of parliament Sam Lim, the member for Tangney, is. I am aware that there has been a pretty longstanding protest outside his office. The protest and the rally that Senator Payman was referring to has been occurring outside Mr Lim's office for quite some time, and I think it has been obstructing members of the public from obtaining services from that office, but I'm sure that that won't stop Mr Lim from doing the excellent job that he has been doing as a representative member in the electorate of Tangney.

I'm also aware that many of the community members who have been at that protest are members of the Tamil community, and, of course, we respect their right to protest. I know that in at least some cases their protest activity has been motivated by the recent tragic suicide of a Tamil asylum seeker. Of course, it goes without saying that our thoughts are with the family and friends of that man who did take his life on 28 August.

We have provided a visa pathway for thousands of people who were neglected by the former government. We understand that, when we came to office, there were several thousand people who had gone through what was known as the fast-tracking process. Their asylum claims had not been properly dealt with and in many cases were rejected, but then they weren't given any security as to their future situation. They were told they couldn't stay in Australia, but they also weren't sent back to their originating countries, so they have been in limbo for more than a decade. This is one of the many challenges that we inherited from the former government in the immigration portfolio. Of course, it's now a matter of record that, when Mr Dutton oversaw that portfolio as home affairs minister, it was a broken system. That has been the finding of several reviews. The issues that Senator Payman is referring to are some that we're dealing with right now, and I know Minister Burke is giving it his full attention.