Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator McKim, move:

That the Senate—

(a) acknowledges that author, journalist and filmmaker, Mr Behrouz Boochani, will be appearing at the WORD Christchurch literary event on 29 November 2019;

(b) notes that Mr Boochani is also a Kurdish refugee who fled persecution in Iran, sought asylum in Australia and spent 2269 days held by Australia's offshore processing regime;

(c) notes that Mr Boochani is an award winning author and journalist—his memoir, No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, won the Victorian Prize for Literature, the Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction, the Anna Politjovskaya Prize for Press Freedom and the 2017 Amnesty Media Award, and his work has been published and featured around the world in TheGuardian and other international newspapers;

(d) further notes that Mr Boochani has reported in the media and in his award-winning book of his internment in offshore detention included being jailed for eight days for reporting on a hunger strike in the centre, and twice tortured for several days in the notorious Chauka solitary confinement block for reporting on the conditions in the now-demolished Manus detention centre to the outside world; and

(e) pays tribute to all those involved, including Amnesty International and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in securing a visa for Mr Boochani to travel to New Zealand to attend the Christchurch literary event.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) 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.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government will not be supporting this motion. Offshore processing is a core component of Operation Sovereign Borders. We will never return to the disastrous policies of those opposite which saw 50,000 people on more than 800 boats, and more than 1,200 men, women and children drown at sea. As at 20 November 2019, 642 refugees had departed to the US. A further 250-plus refugees have received provisional approval to resettle in the United States, including Behrouz Boochani.

Question agreed to.