Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The President has received the following letter from Senator Siewert:

Pursuant to standing order 75 I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:

The Abbott government's treatment of asylum seekers detained offshore in Nauru and Manus Island and the recently signed deal with Cambodia.

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

I understand that informal arrangements have been made to allocate specific times to each of the speakers in today’s debate. With the concurrence of the Senate, I shall ask the clerks to set the clock accordingly.

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

Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy President. I rise today to contribute to this debate on a matter of significant importance not only to Australians but also to Australia taxpayers, who are funding the detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru, and who are about to fork out millions and millions of dollars for the government's latest deal with Cambodia. I want to put a few facts on the table first, so that we all have an understanding of the people we are actually talking about in relation to these detention centres located out in the Pacific.

At the moment, there are 1,233 people detained in the detention camp in Nauru. That includes 222 children and 263 women. We have just over 1,080 people detained on Manus Island in PNG. And of course, the Cambodia deal that was signed last Friday 28 September will act as the newest tool in the government's toolbox of cruelty to be inflicted on these people who are languishing now—as we speak—in the Australian-run and Australian-funded detention camps on these islands. Right now, as we stand here in this place and debate, there are men, women and children in Nauru who are feeling extremely distressed about their circumstances. We know that, over the last few days, there is pressure being put on these people to choose between living in what they themselves describe as 'hell' in Nauru and going off to Cambodia. It is near impossible for anyone to imagine how that decision could be voluntary.

The children who are detained inside the detention centres today have fled from war and terror and, tragically, many of them have been forced to flee by themselves. There are a number of unaccompanied children who are detained inside the Nauru detention centre. We know that, in response to the government's Cambodia deal last week, a number of these people, including children, have sadly and tragically acted in ways that have inflicted self-harm. I think that that is extremely concerning for those in this place—to understand what drives somebody to use their own body as their only weapon of communication: to harm themselves in a desperate plea to be heard and to be helped. When these people arrived in Australia, they begged us for our help and assistance. They were scooped up, told they had no rights, and dumped on these remote islands in the middle of the Pacific.

The concerning reports that are emerging from within the Nauru detention centre continue. We know that there are allegations today—which have been circulating for a number of months, and are becoming louder and louder—of mistreatment within the detention centre, and abuse of asylum seekers and refugees, including children, who are detained within its fences. This abuse has been alleged to have happened at the hands of both Australian and Nauruan guards—paid for by the Abbott government, funded by the Australian taxpayer, and managed by the Australian immigration department. The allegations that have been levelled are very, very serious indeed. It is time that the government acted, and not continue to brush these allegations under the carpet. There are accusations of rape taking place inside the centre. One young female detainee has alleged that she was threatened that, once she was released into the Nauru detention centre, she would be raped by the very people who at the moment continue to guard her inside the detention centre. There are accusations that Nauruan guards have been trading marijuana with detainees in exchange for sexual favours. There are accusations that a guard previously employed at the centre forced children to engage in sexual activity in front of him. After those accusations surfaced, it is alleged that this guard has since been moved from working inside the family camp—but that no official management of children's protection inside the detention centre has developed as a result of this. Children are resorting to extreme acts of self-harm. These accusations of serious sexual abuse must be addressed by the minister immediately.

I look forward to hearing what the investigation which the minister has said will be conducted by the immigration department will look like. We need a time frame. We need to know when the investigation will report back to this place, and we need to make sure that it is fully transparent, and follows a proper and open process.

The mainland detention network is already dealing with a series of very serious allegations of sexual abuse against children. We know this from the Human Rights Commission's National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention. And the immigration department's own figures show that there were 33 cases of alleged sexual assault involving children in Australian detention centres and on Christmas Island between January 2013 and March 2014—and that is on the Australian mainland; in the Australian-managed detention centres. I have grave concerns for what, then, is going on behind the locked gates and the dark fences, and inside the tents, inside the Manus Island detention camp.

There is a blanket of secrecy that covers Nauru and Manus Island, and it is becoming increasingly clear why. The Australian government refuses access to independent bodies to investigate what is going on. Of course, we also have the visa hikes in Nauru which have made it near impossible for journalists to even visit the island. We know that earlier this year the Nauru government hiked their fees for journalists visiting the island from $200 to $8,000 just to apply for a visa; that does not mean that they will get guaranteed access or even have the visa approved. It seems that we are starting to find out, from the mouths of those who are suffering inside, what the government is trying to hide.

The situation on Nauru is getting desperate, and the Australian people deserve to know what is going on. It was wonderful today to see this place pass the motion for an order for the production of documents so that we can get a sense of what incidents have occurred and what has been documented. However, I fear that many of these cases have not been documented properly. That is what we continue to hear from those who have worked within the centre and those who are detained within it—that the system of denial and dismissal of the serious mistreatment inside these detention centres is nothing more than a cultural cover-up. It is a toxic environment, and we know that people are suffering every single day.

That brings me to the deal with Cambodia. How can we see sending these already vulnerable and broken people to Cambodia as in any way being the humane thing for a country like Australia, who could and should be doing more to help those in need, to do? The United Nations refugee body has strongly condemned the government's deal with Cambodia. They have said:

Refugees are persons who are fleeing persecution or the life-threatening effects of armed conflict. They are entitled to better treatment than being shipped from one country to the next.

I could not agree more, yet this government seems to be obsessed with shipping refugees from one country to another just so Australia does not have to do our fair share. What do we say to the unaccompanied girls who are currently detained inside the Nauru detention centre when they step off the plane in Phnom Penh and are exposed to the sexual exploitation of Cambodia's sex trade? All NGO and aid workers have strongly condemned this deal. They have said that their gravest fears are for the children and young women who will be subject to this— (Time expired)

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate and I place on record my congratulations to Minister Morrison and Assistant Minister Cash for executing so effectively the coalition policy, which was promised at the last election, to stop the boats. I think it has been an absolute testament to the capacity of that minister and his assistant minister—led, of course, by the Prime Minister and the cabinet.

I speak for the more than 1,100 people who are known to have perished in the 2,200 days, or six years, of Labor government—approximately one every second day. I say those known, because as part of Operation Sovereign Borders, I had the opportunity earlier this year to spend some time at Larrakeyah Barracks in Darwin. I asked the Navy personnel—the very ones who were pushed to the limit as a result of the flawed policies of the Labor and Greens government of the time—whether they thought that the figure of 1,100 people known to have perished was accurate. Each of them looked at me ruefully and said, 'Senator Back, we know that to be an absolutely conservative figure'. Given that statistic, in the 400 days of the coalition government to date, we can safely say that at least 200 people have had their lives saved as a result of not falling to the people smugglers and not being put to sea on unseaworthy boats in sea conditions that they should never have been in. Of course, we all know what the result of that has been. This is what this is about. This is what this particular issue concerns.

I do not recall Senator Hanson-Young being vocal in those days when we were feeding the people smugglers and when people were putting their unaccompanied children on boats.

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

I did not hear Senator Hanson-Young once open her mouth and speak about the refugees, those people who had been processed and found to be genuine, rotting for second and even third generations in refugee camps. I never heard this senator open her mouth once during all that time. All I hear her doing today is bleating away in the circumstances.

Let me go back to the time when the Howard government was in power—

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Acting Deputy President, I rise on a point of order about reflecting on other members of parliament. I would ask that Senator Back sticks with the truth.

Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Back, please continue.

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will go back to speaking about the then shadow minister, Ms Gillard, during the last five years of the Howard government, when only two people per month arrived illegally by sea—in contrast, of course, to the figure of 3,000 people. It was during the time when the odd vessel did turn up—by Jove it was infrequent!—that the then shadow minister Ms Gillard came out with the great statement, 'Another boat, another policy failure'!

I will tell you how many there were in the six years of the Labor government. There were 800 policy failures because 800 boats brought some 50,000 illegal arrivals to this country, costing the economy more than $12 billion in added costs.

Senator Hanson-Young came into this place and asked a question yesterday, and she had a motion before this chamber today, seeking information from Minister Scott Morrison regarding allegations of improper conduct on Nauru. Quite properly, through the assistant minister here in this place, Minister Morrison said that he would direct his department to fully investigate these allegations. One would hope they are not true. One would hope there is not one element of truth. But what was Senator Hanson-Young's motivation in going straight into the public arena and speaking of these matters as if they are facts. They are not facts until proven, and I can assure you that if I know anything of Mr Morrison, both as a minister and as a person, he will be directing his department to report fully. I am sure that through Assistant Minister Cash we will learn the outcome of that circumstance.

In the short time I have left, I wish to direct the attention of the chamber to the commitment of the Abbott government to increasing the number of genuine refugees up to 20,000 people—that is, 20,000 people who will be able to come when we stop the illegal boat arrivals.

Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today on this matter of public importance, a matter that is not only of national significance for Australia, and for our place in the region, but of importance to the world for how refugees and asylum seekers are treated. The actions taken by our government in signing a deal with Cambodia have the potential to set a disturbing new paradigm and change how the refugee convention is understood and implemented by all nations. Indeed, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has warned that this is a 'worrying departure from international norms'.

We know that this arrangement represents world's worst practice in the treatment of refugees and the management of the movement of people. Rather than taking responsibility for the flow of asylum seekers across our borders and into our region, and working out a cooperative plan with our neighbours and partners in the Asia Pacific, the Abbott government has instead simply offloaded its duties and obligations onto smaller, poorer, and less-resourced nations with governments that are not equipped to deal with the major challenges involved in providing processing and settlement for large numbers of asylum seekers. We know that Cambodia falls directly into this category, and it is not surprising that Scott Morrison should have targeted it as a country that might be vulnerable to exploitation by this government. Transparency International, an NGO that monitors corruption worldwide, has ranked Cambodia 160th out of 177 nations on its global corruption index. Problems of governance and corrupt activity are endemic. We know that refugee children and families will be particularly vulnerable in Cambodia. Former Chief Justice of the Family Court, Alastair Nicholson, has spoken on this situation on behalf of an alliance of groups made up of UNICEF Australia, Save the Children, Plan International Australia, World Vision, Amnesty International, Refugee Council of Australia, International Detention Coalition and Children's Rights International, saying:

This planned deal is inappropriate, immoral and likely illegal. It is inappropriate because Cambodia has no capacity within its social sector to take an influx of refugees. Immoral because these vulnerable people are Australia’s responsibility, and while we await the detail, it appears illegal in contravening Australia’s humanitarian and refugee obligations to vulnerable children and families.

The alliance of children's and refugee agencies said Cambodia's education and health systems would not be able to support or sustain the arrival of refugees. Today, 70 per cent of Cambodia's children do not reach secondary school. Poor health also affects Cambodian children, with 40 per cent of children under the age of five being undernourished. Cambodia is itself a refugee-producing country, with many of its citizens seeking protection here in Australia from abuse by their government and by others. Even though Cambodia does not have the capacity to stop persecution of its own citizens, the Abbott government is entrusting the protection of some of the world's most vulnerable people to the government of Cambodia.

Some members of the government have started referring to this deal as a regional solution. But as experts in refugee law and migration management such as Professor Jane McAdam have argued, a regional, co-operative plan for dealing with asylum seekers and refugees must be based on burden-sharing between governments. Where developing and developed nations are collaborating in the processing and resettlement of asylum seekers, there needs to be an effort at capacity-building so that those countries with advanced systems for administering asylum seeker claims, and high legal standards for their determination, can help to educate and to develop those capacities in others where they do not exist. This is a long-term and intensive process and it cannot be done simply with the granting of one-off payments, like the $40 million dollars that has reportedly been offered by Scott Morrison. There is no investment in Cambodia's future, and there is little hope that its people will see the benefits of these large amounts paid out by the Abbott government. It bears a striking similarity to the Howard government's payments to the near-bankrupt government of Nauru as part of the Pacific Solution, which, rather than helping the country, have left it in a position where just last week it has again been placed in danger of bankruptcy and being forced to close down government services.

Rather than burden-sharing, the Cambodia deal represents burden-shifting: an aggressive, wealthy developed country unethically placing financial pressure on a developing country in its region to solve a political problem of the Abbott government's own making. According to the memorandum of understanding published on the website of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, this is a deal relating to the 'settlement of refugees in Cambodia', but, as with all undertakings by this untrustworthy Abbott government, we cannot take what it says as being a true and accurate depiction. Indeed, hidden within the memorandum of understanding and its operational guidelines is a provision that 'Australia will help facilitate the voluntary repatriation of the refugees'.

So even after they have been offered a place of protection in Cambodia, however ill-equipped to provide that they may be and limited the protection might be, the Australian government will still be actively working to send them back to the country in which they were persecuted and from which they fled. We know of the mental health problems that asylum seekers and refugees routinely suffer from and how important it is that they are given certainty and stability in their circumstances so that they can heal and move on to lead full and productive lives. That is the only humanitarian way for them to be treated.

But these provisions effectively turn Cambodia into a holding pen so that refugees will be constantly moved on from one place to another—from Australia, to Nauru, to Cambodia and then potentially back to the country of persecution. It is a recipe for mental illness and suffering without end. In any evaluation of the Cambodia deal, we also need to bear in mind the recent history of the Australian government in managing detention centres outside Australian territory and its gross negligence in the operation of the Manus Island centre, involving armed attacks against asylum seekers and the death of Reza Barati. How can there be any faith in the government's ability to provide adequately for refugees in Cambodia given its record on Papua New Guinea?

The government has run its asylum seeker policy under what I have referred to as a circus of secrecy. In the Manus Island case, we only discovered the reality of what was happening through the brave actions of G4S staff members who had spoken about their situation through a Senate inquiry. They revealed that not only were asylum seekers incredibly traumatised by the rapidly developing tensions and violence that occurred under Scott Morrison's watch—after he had been warned about the need for greater security and to deal with deteriorating relations between the local population and those in detention—but staff themselves were also traumatised.

The negligence of the minister in failing to take adequate measures to protect the guards and staff resulted in a situation of such danger that security services were withdrawn and responsibilities were turned over to local authorities, leading to an increase in violence and the death of an asylum seeker. Rather than deal with these problems, the Abbott government has simply drawn down its veil of secrecy and refused to address these issues. This is the history of Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison's engagement with foreign governments and developing nations in offshore detention and refugee policy. Given the likelihood of its repetition in the future, for those of us who stand for human rights and for those of us who stand for the humane treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, we must take the strangest of stances against this Cambodian deal. That is because if we will not, then who will?

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to ask the question: how have we in Australia got to such an appalling point that we have 1,200 people stuck on Nauru in the most appalling circumstances?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Because of the Labor government that you supported in office, Christine!

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know Senator Brandis would like to contribute, so perhaps he would like to put his name on the speaking list. That the issue for me is this: how have we got to this point? The one thing Senator Brandis says that is correct there is that this did occur because of the Labor government.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Which you supported in office, with policies you endorsed!

Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Brandis.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It did occur, although I cannot understand how Senator Back was so disinterested in the debate that he did not notice that it was only the Greens in this parliament who stood up and debated at length the decision of the former Gillard government to open offshore detention. It was the Greens who stood up, when Senator Lundy was the minister, and questioned her rigorously about the claims that the Labor Party in government made about the oversight that would be given to the offshore detention centres. That will stay on the record and haunt her for the rest of her life, because Senator Lundy stood there and said that there would be oversight and that all of these things that have happened would not happen. But that was exactly what happened and those centres should have been closed down.

Now we have an even worse situation where this government does not even pretend to care that we have got 1,200 people stuck on Nauru, which has a failing economy. They do not even have enough money. They are going to run out of money even to run their generators. They cannot pay the wages; the place is going broke. You have got people locked up in the detention centre who, when they heard of the temporary protection visa deal and when they heard of the Cambodian deal, immediately went into such a state of distress that there were three suicide attempts and there was self harm going on. A 14-year-old girl has taken over leading the protests, because her father has gone into such a state of distress. People have refused to drink and people are sewing their lips together. Another young girl swallowed washing powder, causing her to vomit blood. She was sent to Sydney over the weekend. This level of self harm is particularly amongst children.

Ought we not be asking ourselves: how do we actually cope with the idea that it is because of the Australian government's policy that we are forcing children, young kids at 14 years old, to sew their lips together to try and kill themselves? Who is going to take responsibility for that? I saw that the minister was asked about the fact that there are allegations of guards who were saying to women on Nauru that if they want to shower for longer than two minutes, they have to do disrobe and they have to show their bodies. There are allegations like that and the minister says that, if that is found to be true, he would be, 'Pretty damn cross.'

Actually, he needs to be more than pretty damn cross. He has got to take responsibility. There is such a thing as ministerial responsibility. He has oversight of these offshore detention centres. Reza Berati is dead—murdered at Manus Island. We have young people who are actually trying to kill themselves. There are appalling allegations of exploitation. Now we have a deal with Cambodia.

Cambodia is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet. In January this year, the Australian government made a presentation to the Human Rights Committee condemning the human rights abuse record in Cambodia. So the government cannot pretend it does not know; it does. It reported that about Cambodia earlier this year; yet, despite that, the Australian government is paying a bribe of $35 million to $40 million to the Cambodian government, to the Hun Sen regime, to take our refugees. What are the conditions? Well, we know very little. What we do know is that this is a country with very little freedom of expression. As I said, corruption is endemic there. They have appalling international scrutiny.

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. The reference by the senator that accuses our government of paying Cambodia a bribe is highly offensive, and I think it offends section 193 of the standing orders.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order, Senator O'Sullivan.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I indicated, Cambodia is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet. Ministers in the Hun Sen government are known to take bribes. The leader of the opposition in Cambodia, Sam Rainsy, has come out and said that any money Australia pays will go straight into the back pockets of government ministers. That is the way of it. What is being promised there and what refugees are being told is that they will not be able to live in Phnom Penh after they get a basic grasp of the Khmer language. They will be forced to relocate outside Phnom Penh. This is contrary to the refugee convention, for a start. You cannot force people as to where they can and cannot live. Then the refugees are to be given minimal assistance for 12 months, at Cambodian subsistence levels, which is poverty. And then, at the end of 12 months, the Australian government will assist them to go back to their country of origin—in other words, to facilitate refoulement. That is exactly what has been going on in Sri Lanka.

The Australian government is sending back refugees to Sri Lanka, where they are being raped and tortured. The Australian government does not want to know about it. It does not follow up. The ADF allegedly did not interview someone when they wanted to give evidence about the fact that they had been abused when they went back, yet they will be refouled from Sri Lanka. That is exactly what is going to happen with Cambodia. Australia has offered to assist Cambodia in returning refugees to their country of origin.

So we have a shocking level of abuse going on here. We are removing reference to the human rights convention, the refugee convention, in legislation. We are abusing people. I thought what Senator Back said was interesting. We do not know if it is a new announcement from the government; but, apparently, it seems to be. The government cut the humanitarian refugee intake from 20,000 to 13,750. So, far from increasing the refugee intake, the government has cut it, but Senator Back just said that it was to be increased to 20,000. I will be very interested to know if in fact it is a government announcement to increase the humanitarian intake to 20,000. However, the point here is that we have a government of a rich country like Australia that is absolutely shirking its responsibility to look after refugees. Instead, it is sending refugees into appalling circumstances on Nauru and Manus Island. It is now signing an extremely dubious deal with Cambodia. Not only was there rioting on Nauru when this announcement was made; there was an immediate protest outside the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh, where Cambodians said it is a shocking thing that Australia is doing. How can a rich country shirk its responsibilities and send these people to one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on the planet and then say that their $35 million or $40 million, or whatever it is, will somehow be spent on those refugees when there is no detail? Where are they are going to be housed? How are they going to be supported? And after the 12 months, what will happen to them? Why won't they end up like the hundreds of others living on the rubbish tips outside the boundaries of the cities? And the reason we will not know is that the Australian government do not care and do not follow-up. They do not follow-up the people they send back to Sri Lanka, they do not follow-up what is going on in Nauru and they will not follow-up what is going on on Manus Island. And now we go to what will actually happen in Cambodia. That is why I put the issue of ministerial responsibility on the public record.

Senator Brandis interjecting—

I know that Senator Brandis and others find this a very amusing subject, but it is far from amusing. In time, there will be people who will look back on this and say: 'How is it that this actually happened in Australia? How is it that the Liberal, Labor and National parties thought sending refugees to offshore detention centres was in any way a reasonable thing to do?' We should be processing people when they come here. It is not illegal to seek asylum. The constant lie that is told about illegal arrivals is just that; it is a lie. It is not illegal to seek asylum. Now we have the situation where refugees will come from the Middle East in their hundreds of thousands, and Australia will be saying, 'It is such a shocking situation there that we have to go to war, but we will not accept the refugees who end up here'—as they have from Afghanistan, from Iraq previously and from Pakistan. 'We're sending them back.' Appalling! (Time expired)

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hear, hear! Tell us about this morning’s Courier Mail,James.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning’s Courier Mail—

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ignore the interjection, Senator McGrath.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I cannot ignore the Attorney­General, Mr Acting Deputy President. This morning’s Courier Mail is inspired reading for everybody. I would encourage everybody in the chamber to have a good look at today’s Courier Mail, especially its front page.

Rather than talk about the hypocrisy of certain people in relation to yesterday’s events, I want to talk about the hypocrisy of certain people in relation to this MPI today. This is part of a concerted campaign by Labor and the Greens to undermine offshore processing

Shame on you, because Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister, and the new government were elected—you are not leaving, are you, Senator Milne? You might learn something! Please, you are breaking my heart!

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Scurry off back to your monkey enclosure!

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order, Mr Acting Deputy President. I ask that Senator Brandis withdraw that comment. We all heard it.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brandis, I would ask that you do withdraw that comment.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have not said anything unparliamentary. If I can be given some guidance as to what unparliamentary word I uttered, I would be happy to withdraw it.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would ask that you withdraw the comment that I clearly heard, as did other senators.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Out of respect for you, Senator Sterle, I withdraw the comment.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Brandis.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do recommend that everyone look at the front page of The Courier-Mailfrom today, because it is inspired reading.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is an insult to apes!

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I feel sorry for monkeys everywhere! Now, Tony Abbott was elected—

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. I am sure that my other colleagues down that end did not hear that Senator Brandis repeated the words that you asked him to withdraw just a moment ago.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, that's not right!

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do request that he withdraw those remarks as well.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did not hear Senator Brandis's remarks that time. I know what I asked him to withdraw before, but I am sorry I did not hear, because I was trying to listen to Senator McGrath, Senator McLucas. If there was anything untoward, Senator Brandis, I would ask that you withdraw it.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, Mr Acting Deputy President. I merely pointed out that the cover of TheCourier-Mail from this morning is an insult to apes, which it is.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brandis, I think I know where you are going with that.

Senator McLucas interjecting—

I am desperately trying to add some decorum to this chamber and some of the comments are not assisting. Senator McGrath, would you like to have another crack without the comment on TheCourier-Mail?

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I should not mention the front page of The Courier-Mail, so I will not do that, Mr Acting Deputy President.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McGrath, playing that game with me is dangerous.

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

Rape and sexual assault is what is being discussed here!

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not going to take lessons from the Greens on morality.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McGrath, ignore the interjections—

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I cannot.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and direct your comments through the chair.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. Could you please instruct Senator McGrath to direct his comments through the chair, not directly at Senator Hanson-Young?

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Whish-Wilson, I was actually doing so when all the screaming was going on, so I will just reiterate my words from about 30 seconds ago. Senator McGrath, please ignore the interjections and direct your comments through the chair. This is like groundhog day.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is sometimes like groundhog day here, Mr Acting Deputy President. Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister, and the government were elected on the basis of stopping the boats, building the roads and infrastructure of the 21st century, getting the budget under control and paying back the debt. In terms of stopping the boats, that is what they have done. Since 19 December 2013 there has been one people-smuggling venture that has arrived here—only one. By comparison, for the period from 20 December 2012 to 1 October 2013, a total of over 20,000 illegal arrivals turned up on 290 boats. We are stopping the boats. What some people do not want to talk about is those who have been lost at sea.

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's right!

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'We do not want to talk about the 1,100 people who have perished at sea. No, we do not want to talk about that. No, we will not talk about that.' It is the silence of the lambs when it comes to talking about those 1,100 people. We do not care about those people! By stopping the boats, we are saving peoples' lives. Labor had over 11 failed approaches to border protection, which led to over 50,000 illegal arrivals on more than 800 boats. Illegal arrivals increased from two people per month in the last five years of the Howard government to more than 3,000 per month under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd-Green government.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Shameful!

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Reynolds, you are right. That is shameful. Certain people who come in here and cry tears but do not mention the 1,100 people who perished at sea have a false morality and are hypocrites. The government is doing what it said it was going to do. It is stopping the boats.

In terms of resettling in Cambodia, we said we were going to have a regional solution. We do have a regional solution: we are going to Cambodia. There is soft racism—and it is soft racism—about why Cambodia is not good enough for the resettlement of these people. Cambodia is a fine country. It is a good country. Those people sniggering and smirking about Cambodia should know that Cambodia will provide a safe home, it will provide an education and it will look after people—and those people will not be perishing at sea. I challenge people, through you, Mr Acting Deputy President, to talk about the 1,100 people at sea. Let us talk about those deaths. 'No, we will not!' There is a black hole of silence coming from a certain corner of this chamber, because they will not talk about those deaths. They will talk about anything else except those deaths and the number of lives that this government has saved through stopping the boats. (Time expired)

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on today's matter of public importance and, in doing so, will highlight the difference between the asylum seeker policy of this side of the Senate and the policies of those on that side of the House. I seek to immediately draw the Senate's attention to a murky shadow in the Senate from 23 November 2011. During question time on that day, Senator Cash was asking Senator Carr, who was then the minister representing the then minister for immigration, about the Labor government's policies in this area. During the course of Senator Carr's answer, Senator Cash interjected to say that the policies relating to people seeking asylum are 'the gift that keeps on giving.' It is three years on and that is still the premise of their policy on this humanitarian issue.

Senator Brandis interjecting—

It is to keep up the division, keep up the scaremongering and keep up the persecution rather than trying to assess the most desperate people who want to come to Australia—

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

and make a better life for their family. We could not get a clearer policy position from the Liberal Party—

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

which wants people to get on those leaky boats and to drown at sea. This is the Liberal Party policy writ large—

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senators, I know this is a very emotive issue, but I am trying desperately to listen to the contribution from Senator Urquhart, who did sit through everyone else's contribution without interjecting. If you could refrain from interjecting, I would greatly appreciate that.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, I want to take a point of order under section 193(3). I think the senator has reflected on Senator Cash, because she has asserted falsely that Senator Cash when she made the interjection in the words attributed to her by Senator Urquhart was reflecting upon the circumstances of drownings rather than, as was plainly the case, reflecting upon the senator, Senator Kim Carr, whom she was addressing in her interjection. That is a shocking reflection on Senator Cash. It ought to be withdrawn under standing order 193(3) or Senator Urquhart ought to make it clear that that is not her imputation. But, if it is her imputation, it must be withdrawn.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brandis, with all the screaming that was going on, I was finding it very hard to hear what was going on. But I will ask Senator Urquhart if she wishes to address your concerns. If not—

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not agree with Senator Brandis's point of order. My comments were in relation to a comment that Senator Cash made. If you have a look at the Hansard, you will see the correct record of those.

This is the Liberal Party policy writ large—'the gift that keeps on giving'. Senator Cash sought to clarify her comment, that she was not claiming that boats sinking at sea were a gift that kept on giving. If you had listened, Senator Brandis, I would have continued—

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, you have not ruled on my earlier point of order. But Senator Urquhart, in the sentence that has just come from her, has conceded and confessed that the imputation she sought to cast against Senator Cash was in fact false. So she is convicted by her own confession that her imputation was a falsehood. It is disgraceful.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, I rise on the point of order. I put to you that there is no point of order. The reason is that Senator Brandis jumped up too early. If he had waited and listened—

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She already made the slur.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Brandis! Senator McLucas has the call.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I put to you that there is no point of order because Senator Urquhart has explained fully what Senator Michaelia Cash was intending when she made those cold and dreadful statements.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I see no point of order.

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So she was not claiming that boats sinking at sea were the gift that that kept on giving but that it was the government's policy that was the infamous gift. The slip of the tongue remains emblematic of the Liberal-National coalition's willingness to use this humanitarian issue purely as a political plaything.

While in opposition, those opposite talked tough across the country, shouting from the rooftops whenever a boat carrying people seeking asylum arrived. The now Prime Minister stood in front of billboards across the country that were used to highlight the number of boat arrivals over a given period and were solely about politics and about demonising those who were seeking to make a better life for themselves and were never at all about trying to work through the problems in a collaborative manner. It was their way or no way.

Of course, in the latter stages of the Labor government, we introduced a policy of processing people seeking asylum offshore on Nauru and Manus Island. It is this policy that is credited as slowing boat arrivals.

Senator O'Sullivan interjecting—

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are really starting to earn our dollars today—or some of us are. I will just ask once again if the interjections could be kept to yourselves. If you could let Senator Urquhart make her contribution in peace, it would be greatly appreciated by me.

Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Upon coming to government, the attitude of those opposite got worse. It started with the once-a-week press conferences to supposedly provide updates on immigration matters. These farcical briefings ended after a few months. Most believe it was because the minister realised that there was no point holding a press conference if he was simply going to patronise journalists and refuse to answers questions. In the year since the Abbott government was elected, there has been a cone of silence over the immigration portfolio under the guise of not wanting to provide information to people smugglers. Ironically, other ministers are more than willing to provide ongoing public commentary on national security matters.

In the past six months two young men have tragically lost their lives while in the care of the Australian government on Manus Island. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Reza Barati and Hamid Kehazaei. Both lost their lives this year—Mr Barati through a failure of security measures and Mr Kehazaei through a failure of medical processes. We know that police in PNG have arrested and charged two people over the murder of 23-year-old Reza Barati. Both men are believed to have worked with G4S, the company which managed security at the detention centre at the time of Mr Barati's death. Mr Barati died from severe head trauma during a riot inside the Australian-run detention centre on Manus Island on 17 February.

Mr Kehazaei cut his foot at the detention centre on Manus and developed septicaemia because it was left untreated. He was eventually transferred to Brisbane's Mater hospital where he suffered a heart attack. The 24-year-old was later declared brain dead. In early September, his family back in Iran made the decision to switch off his life support. The lawyer representing the young man's family, Ruth Hudson, says there has not been enough information provided to the family and the Australian public about the specifics of his transfer from Manus Island to Brisbane. Ruth Hudson has said she would investigate three critical points in the timeline of Mr Kehazaei's treatment: the possibility of an inadequate initial diagnosis; the potential failure of not transferring him quickly enough to Australia; and the failure to provide adequate treatment.

A number of former Manus Island staff have also spoken about the conditions at the centre, including former G4S and Wilson Security guard Beau Mitchell. In an interview with the ABC, Mr Mitchell said he was not surprised an accident of this magnitude had occurred. Mr Mitchell said:

There's no air conditioning, the beds are extremely close together. The living standards are pretty quite filthy …

Often they'd be standing on concrete to have a shower that was literally falling apart underneath them, just completely rotting away.

…   …   …

The people that were actually working there did a fantastic job … if it was something quite severe they'd be seen quickly but if it wasn't an emergency it was a 2-3 day wait normally.

It appears that we have people trying their best in really terrible conditions, and we are not hearing anything about this from the government; they are completely silent, leaving it up to whistleblowers to inform the public about these squalid conditions.

If this track record is not bad enough, the government has now reached new lows by brokering a $40 million deal with Cambodia that is reported to resettle only a handful of refugees. In true Abbott government form, the Cambodia deal was brokered under a veil of secrecy. Australians were given no details of the deal until the ink was well and truly dry. In fact, the only way we heard about it was through the Cambodian press. In the absence of transparency and full disclosure from Mr Morrison, we also discovered from the Cambodian media what Mr Morrison will be getting for his $40 million. According to an article in the Phnom Penh Post, the Cambodian Minister of Interior, Sar Kheng, has said on this matter:

We will try to take four or five people, maybe two or three (initially).

If that is what actually transpires, we are looking at quite a few million dollars being spent on each refugee. It certainly does not sound as though Mr Morrison has achieved value for money in this deal, and it sounds very suspiciously like policy on the run.

We also need to ask questions about Cambodia's capacity to support these people. The president of Cambodia's Centre for Human Rights, Virak Ou, told Radio National that Cambodia is in no position to take refugees. On this matter he said:

We are a poor country, the health system is sub-par at most. I don't know how the refugees will send their kids to school.

According to UNICEF, 18 per cent of Cambodians exist below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day. With all these existing problems, it is hard to see how Cambodia will be able to support more people with their already stretched public resources. Similarly, we cannot close our eyes to Cambodia's human rights record. In fact, as recently as January this year the Abbott government was concerned enough to denounce Cambodia at a United Nations Human Rights hearing for its human rights abuses. Now, just nine months later, it appears the government expects us to believe that there is no longer a problem.

Australians need to be certain that the safety and security of refugees is protected, and it is the responsibility of the Abbott government to provide that assurance. So far, we have heard nothing about the measures the government is putting in place to ensure that the health and wellbeing of refugees is guaranteed. This is an ill-considered quick-fix deal through which Australia shirks its responsibilities as a global citizen. We also need to recognise the sheer hypocrisy of this agreement, especially when it was members of this government who were so brutally opposed to the Malaysia regional solution proposed by the Labor government in 2011. It simply does not make any sense to complain about the human rights implications of asylum seekers being sent to Malaysia but to have no concerns with stitching up a deal to send people to Cambodia. The truth is that this was more about political wins than the feigned concern about the health and wellbeing of asylum seekers. Prime Minister Abbott himself admitted as much when he apologised to Malaysia soon after getting into office. On this matter he said:

I offered an act of contrition, if you like, to Prime Minister Najib for the way Malaysia got caught up in what was a very intense and at times somewhat rancorous debate in Australia. He knows we play our politics pretty hard in our country.

This is an outrageous admission that our Prime Minister sees the global refugee crisis as little more than a political tool used to score points in domestic politics.

On this side of the chamber, we do not see any policy as 'a gift that keeps on giving'. Rather, we are committed to working through issues with fairness, equity and justice at the fore of our decision making. I implore the government to end the silence and adopt a similar approach.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thirteen years ago I saw true evil up close and, for the first time in my life, I understood it. The events of 2001 and 2002 left an indelible mark on me. As chief of staff to Chris Ellison, the Minister for Justice and Customs during one of our most challenging periods in government—September 11, the Bali bombings, the Tampaand SIEV X—I personally experienced the best and the worst of humanity. And the lessons I learned then, both as a human being and in government, about both national security and border protection are just as relevant today.

As I said in my first speech, it was at the Bali hospital, where Australians were lying in the morgue, that I came to truly understand that those who desire to destroy democracy do not respect our national compassion. Instead, they see it as weakness and wait for opportunities to exploit it. To the day I die, I will never forget what I saw, what I heard and what I smelt there. Through these experiences, dealing with people smugglers and terrorists, I came to understand that in government compassion has to be balanced by strength and by decisiveness. Compassion for those impacted by the most heinous of crimes must be balanced with the strength to deal with the criminals.

This very morning in this chamber I observed that senators on the other side routinely proselytise about fairness, as if somehow their own personal points of view on fairness is the singular truth and that everybody else is wrong—or, worse, that everyone else is unfair and uncompassionate. But the truth is that nobody in this place has a mortgage on compassion. Instead, we have differing philosophical perspectives on fairness and on policy. I know from three years of personal experience that border integrity is one of the toughest areas of government policy but nonetheless one of the most important. There is no greater responsibility for any government than managing our borders and having a tough but fair managed migration program—one that is inherently safe and therefore the most compassionate.

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

But responsible governments do not take the easy way; they do what is right. I can hear the interjections from Senator Hanson-Young, and I would say to her that having personally received phone calls to advise that people—women and children—were drowning on sinking boats, in the most heinous and awful circumstances, I still cannot describe today how terrible that is. When you have actually experienced that you will come to truly understand how I feel and why I feel so strongly about this.

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Sorry, Senator Reynolds. I am listening intently to your contribution, and I would ask other senators to at least afford Senator Reynolds the last one minute and 57 seconds that she has left.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. I see not a single shred of compassion in any deliberate government policy that would encourage tens of thousands of people to put their lives at risk. Under Labor, with the support of the Greens, more than 1,100 human beings drowned at sea—the most horrific deaths imaginable. Where were those opposite then and how can they possibly still advocate today that this is a compassionate policy and approach? I have tried very hard over the years to understand their brand of compassion, and I just cannot get there.

The circumstances that Senator Milne and Senator Hanson-Young—I can hear her again—talked about today are a direct result of their policy failures. We learned in 2001 as a government and as a nation that the only way to preserve the integrity of our borders and to stop people putting their lives at risk was to put the people smugglers out of business—and the only effective way to do that is to ensure they cannot sell the promise of permanent residency and ultimately citizenship in Australia. Labor's loss of control of our borders resulted in 50,000 illegal arrivals on 800 boats and cruelly denied over 14,000 others, arguably more deserving, a place under our offshore humanitarian program. What is even more mind boggling is the fact that once it was clear that this was happening and that the series of 11 policy flip-flops by Labor were not working, they still continued with these policies and people continued to die.

In conclusion, people smugglers are going out of business, people are no longer drowning at sea and our detention centres are once again emptying. To me, that is the most compassionate outcome of all. (Time expired)

Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank senators, particularly Senator McGrath, Senator Reynolds and Senator Back, for their contributions to this important discussion. It is extraordinary to me that the Greens and the Labor Party have the gall to come into this place and raise this matter of public importance on asylum seekers. It is extraordinary that they do not just hang their heads in shame at what they oversaw over six years prior to the coalition coming to government. Senator Hanson-Young comes into this place and waxes lyrical and moralises to the coalition about asylum seeker policy when the policy she supported and the policy the Labor Party implemented and oversaw was a disaster. It is difficult to compare the policy disaster that we saw in relation to asylum seekers over the six years of the Labor-Greens government with any other area of policy failure. I cannot think of another policy failure that has led to at least 1,100 deaths at sea. I cannot think of another policy failure that has led to human tragedy on such a scale.

For the Greens through Senator Hanson-Young and Senator Milne, and the Labor Party through the likes of Senator Urquhart, to lecture the coalition and to lecture the Senate on this issue is breathtaking. I imagine it will be breathtaking to the Australian people when they reflect on the record of those opposite when they were in office. It will be breathtaking when they consider the numbers of people, the sheer human tragedy—

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

Senator Hanson-Young continues to carp away; she continues to interject—part of her must be a little bit embarrassed about what she is saying and about what she has overseen. She comes in here and moralises and lectures to a government that has got control of the issue to the extent that we no longer see the boats coming—we have seen one boat over the last nine months or so; one boat compared to the 20,000 people in the same period last year under the former government.

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

We know why she keeps interjecting—she must be embarrassed.

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

I'm not embarrassed—I'm embarrassed for you.

Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She says she is not embarrassed—she is absolutely shameless. She is so shameless that when the policies she supported led to thousands of people getting on boats and more than 1,100 people drowning, what did she say? She was so ashamed that she said, 'Well tragedies happen. Accidents happen.' Unfortunately tragedies do happen, but sometimes they happen as a result of a failure of policy. In this case that is exactly what happened. Policies have consequences. Poor border protection policies have consequences—they draw people onto leaky boats and many of them do not get here. That is one of the consequences of bad policy, and that is a policy she continues to advocate. I think this attitude should be called out for what it is—it is a disgrace. It is morally bankrupt to not care about the consequences of your policy decisions.

What is perhaps just as extraordinary is that the Labor Party continues to back this up. We expect the extremism from the Greens. We might be somewhat shocked by it, we might think it is disgraceful, but we do expect it. The alternative government of this nation should be better than that. The alternative Labor Party government should be better than the Greens but unfortunately they are not. Unfortunately they are no different. They continue to back the Greens view of the world, and the Greens-Labor view of the world is that we should have no effective policy, effectively an open borders policy. You have tried that and it did not work. It had tragic consequences. I think the Greens and the Labor Party should be condemned and their moralising and lecturing should be seen exactly for what it is.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for the discussion has expired.