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

Today I once again raise the plight of temporary visa holders who have been stranded overseas due to Australia's international border closure. In particular, I want to talk about the children who have been separated from one or both of their parents for up to a year. I'm aware of cases involving 42 children from 34 families who have had their lives ripped apart by the government's cold-hearted approach. The pain, the anguish and the trauma that is being caused to these children and their parents is incalculable, and there is no end in sight. They remain locked out of our country simply because they are on temporary visas and cannot get an exemption to return home to Australia.

Today, I'm going to read out the names of these children so that colleagues can understand that we're dealing with real humans, real children and real families. Firstly, there is Gurman who is only 18 months old and who is staying with extended family in India. She is separated from both of her parents at 18 months old. I'm aware of nine children who were born in Australia and have lived their whole lives in Australia: Danny Talebbi, who is 12 months old and whose father, Hassan, is an asylum seeker and cannot leave Australia; Tavia Singh, who is 13 months old; Delisha Patel, who is 15 months old; Zerawah Daniel, who is 25 months old; Adarsh Patel, who is 21 months; Caylam, who is two years old; Namet Dhaliwal, who is three years old; Mayise, who is three years old; and Amarin Lahoria, who is four years old. Each of those children is stranded overseas with one parent while the other parent is in Australia.

Then there are four mothers that I'm aware of who were forced to have their babies overseas. These four children have never met their fathers. Murisa is three months old. His mother, Afreen, was forced to have him in India. Barisa Hassan is five months old. His mother, Aman, was forced to have him in Pakistan. Noah is six months old. His mother, Melanie, was forced to have him in Mauritius. Yosef Mussaf is seven months old. His mother, Sara, was forced to have him in Egypt. Remember, they were forced to have their babies overseas, and the babies have never met their fathers.

We have 28 children of skilled visa holders and international students who we invited to come to Australia: Maheen Usman is 18 months old. Mayura Guleria is 19 months old. Amelia Anas is 22 months old. Tejashwi Pradeep is two years old. Devan Silva is three years old. Navira Hashmi is four years old. Harsab Pannu is four years old. Kean Malik is four years old. Omar is four years old. Deana Saga is five years old. Ananya and Ishani Singh are seven months old and 13 months old respectively. Fahid Nafi is seven years old. Torsa Ekram is eight years old. Ali Yosef and Mohammed Jawad Patel are eight years old and five years old respectively. Kritika Karwa is nine years old. Samyukta and Soham Sensarma are 15 years old and eight years old respectively. Leander Lara, Kenny Lara and Emmanuel Giovane are 13 years old, 11 years old and 19 months old respectively. Shamanta and Nashita Islam are 13 years old and nine years old respectively. Djorko and Davor Miloshevsky are 16 years old and 14 years old respectively. There are also children from two other families, aged nine and two, who are stranded overseas.

All of those children are stranded overseas with one parent and separated from their other parent, who is in Australia. They have suffered rejection after rejection after rejection by this government. And the government says these children don't meet the government's criteria for a compelling and compassionate case. Some of these families have been rejected 60 times. In what world, colleagues, does a child being separated from one or both parents for more than 12 months not count as compelling and compassionate? This pain and trauma has to be stopped. We have to look after these families and allow them to be reunited as soon as possible, and I again implore the government to grant exemptions to all families where a child is separated from one or both of their parents irrespective of their visa class.

But it's not just children who've been separated from their parents; couples have also been torn apart by Australia's travel ban. I'm currently advocating for 199 couples who are separated. Some separated couples are on temporary visas. Some are Australian citizens whose partners are stranded offshore, because they are on temporary visas. And yet other couples are separated while they wait for their partner visas and prospective marriage visas to be processed. Many are experiencing such extreme stress and pain due to the 10-month-plus separation from their partners that they are experiencing mental health issues for the first time in their lives. I ask senators: how would we all feel if we couldn't see our partners or our children for 10 or more months with no end in sight?

In my office, I also have on my books 358 people and families separated from their homes and lives who've come to me, desperate for help. There are entire families on temporary visas that are stranded overseas. While they aren't separated from each other, they are separated from their jobs, their incomes, their assets, their homes, their communities and their lives. These are families languishing overseas with only what they packed in their travel bags. Sleeping on couches, staying with family and friends, and waiting and pleading for the government to address their situation.

Then there are the skilled visa holders that we invited into this country because we wanted their skills. They, too, are stranded overseas. Chefs, construction workers, teachers, mechanics, lawyers, IT consultants, accountants, people who work in the aged-care sector. The businesses they work for are suffering losses from the ongoing absence of key team members during what are already very difficult economic times. I'm also aware of people on student and graduate visas who've now paid thousands of dollars to come and study here and are watching their visas run down and expire through no fault of their own.

People on temporary visas have a legal right to be here in Australia. They are not tourists or people hoping to come here for a holiday. They live here. Their homes are here. Their jobs are here. Their lives are here. Their families are here. They work here and pay taxes here. We have an obligation to these people to do the right thing and let them come home. I implore the government to address these issues and I implore the government to address the people in these horrendous circumstances directly. Tell them what your plan is for them. Show them the respect and courtesy they deserve. We invited them into our country. Many of them are guests in our country; others work in our country. Many have built lives in our country. Their children go to school in our country. They own businesses in our country. They pay and have paid taxes in our country. We are a better country than this. When you invite people into your homes you don't slam the door in their faces when the going gets tough, but that's exactly what we have done to countless people who are living their lives in absolute distress, because this government believes that they should not be allowed to return to their homes here in Australia. We've got to do better.