Cory Bernardi (SA, Australian Conservatives) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate calls upon the Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Dutton), to ensure that:

(a) South African minorities targeted by hate crimes can seek asylum as easily as any other groups seeking asylum in Australia, and

(b) if Australia is committed to a non-discriminatory immigration policy, those South African minorities are not discriminated against due to their skin colour.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor will oppose this motion, because we see through Senator Bernardi's petty political games. Labor supports Australia's non-discriminatory migration program, which has been in place for decades. If people are facing persecution, regardless of where they are from or the colour of their skin, they are able to apply to Australia's humanitarian visa program and that application process will be assessed on its merits. Australia's protection obligations are clear and are set out in the Migration Act. Regrettably, the Minister for Home Affairs clearly feels differently. On 14 March 2018, the minister was asked specifically about South African farmers. He responded:

… I think these people deserve special attention and we're certainly applying that special attention now.

The minister clearly was calling for special attention—a different set of standards that would undermine Australia's non-discriminatory migration program. At Senate estimates, the minister's claims of special attention were defied by this own department, which said they were applying no additional requirements.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This motion contains a blatant straw-man immigration argument from conservatives, who long for a return to apartheid and the White Australia Policy. The Greens also call on the government to commit to a non-discriminatory immigration policy, not because we think white South African farmers are being discriminated against but because we know that underprivileged non-white people from the world's least developed countries are being discriminated against, because Australia does have a discriminatory migration policy. It is discrimination based on mode of arrival, which has the effect of discriminating against groups of people based on their wealth, their countries of origin and the colour of their skin.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Bernardi be agreed to.