Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

20 June 2006 is World Refugee Day and the day’s theme is ‘keeping the flame of hope alive’,

(ii)

there are more than 19 million refugees and 5.5 million internally displaced people in the world looking for protection,

(iii)

many countries assist hundreds of thousands of refugees who have no choice but to flee persecution,

(iv)

the Government has changed its policy, breaching the Refugee Convention, in response to the arrival of 43 refugees, and

(v)

the Government’s new policy will mean many asylum seekers who arrive by boat are exiled to Nauru or Manus Island; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

drop its policy of appeasing Indonesia and ensure Australia’s refugee laws conform fully with the Refugee Convention, and

(ii)

consider increasing Australia’s intake of refugees and offer asylum seekers real hope, durable solutions and significantly improved settlement services.

Question put.