Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Opposition leader, Mr Dutton, and Prime Minister Albanese's anti refugee unholy trinity was completed with a final bill that included a Trump style travel ban that allows the government to prevent anyone from certain countries coming to Australia. The government did not even have the decency to tell the public who they were going to ban, but we suspect this will target countries like Iran and Sudan, placing permanent barriers between diaspora communities and their extended families and communities. This is what Labor are capable of when they team up with the coalition, ramming through laws that betray the very multicultural communities that voted them into power.

Refugee and migrant communities were promised a different kind of government and leadership, one that protected social cohesion, quashed vilification and defended our proud multicultural Australia. Those dreams now lay in tatters.

Prime Minister Albanese, what a disappointment you've turned out to be. What happened to your election promise to leave no-one behind, to hold no-one back? What happened to the light on the hill? It's quite clear that Labor and the Prime Minister do not care. They don't care to keep their election promise nor to protect human rights and refugees. To multicultural Australians—to anyone who came here as a refugee, to anyone who is part of a diaspora community: the Greens see you. We hear you, and we will continue to fight for you in this place. We'll continue to call out the major parties for their hypocrisy and disregard of human rights. We'll continue to fight any legislation that unnecessarily persecutes refugees, migrants or people seeking asylum.

The election around the corner is a real opportunity to see change. We can elect more Greens into parliament and deliver meaningful reforms that protect refugees and human rights, reforms that celebrate diversity and put people over division. Australians are sick of voting for the two same parties and getting the same results. This election is their chance to draw a line in the sand and say: 'Enough of the fearmongering and dog whistling by the two major parties in this country. Let's embrace multiculturalism and respect the right of law and human rights.' I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.