Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Friday 20 August 2021, I had the honour of meeting with members of the Australian Afghan community in my home state of Queensland. On that occasion, I met a wonderful girl by the name of Nooria. This is a message from Nooria, who is 16 years old:

With all the respect I have for the generous government of Australia, I am writing this to ask for help. Help for my birth country, Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is where I was born and learned to be grateful for each of my breaths.

I have learned to never ask for more.

Today however, my country, my motherland is being taken by the cruel group of Taliban.

This is when I speak and ask for more – for more than what is given just to me.

Young children disappear in Afghanistan overnight, men lose their daughters and wives because now they are forcibly married to one of the Taliban.

Afghanistan was a country where freedom was defined in people’s smiles and their faces. Yet now, it has become a country where little children have nothing to say to the media but to cry.

My people in Afghanistan believe their tears are seen by other people, they still believe in hope.

This piece of land is a mother to all the people in Afghanistan. A small country with 37 million people living in it cannot and should not be given to cruel and unworthy groups like the Taliban.

When I first came to Australia in 2018 and until this day everything that the Australian government has done inspired me.

Today I want to see the Australian government inspire me one more time.

One more time, I want my words to be heard by Government and the people of Australia, as my words are the only way to ask for help.

I want freedom for my land, Afghanistan!

Those are the words of 16-year-old Nooria in my home state of Queensland. Nooria, your plea is now on the record of our nation's parliament.

In considering Nooria's plea, we should consider the special bond between Australia and Afghanistan. It is a special bond born of the sacrifice of the members of our Australian Defence Force who have served in Afghanistan, including the 41 who died, the hundreds who were wounded, their families and all of those who served who now carry the sacrifices that they made during that time. It is a special bond arising from the common values between Australia and the people of Afghanistan who fought the Taliban and worked for a better future for themselves and their people. Those values are listed on form 842, which I've become very familiar with over the course of the last two weeks—the application for an offshore humanitarian visa. Those Australian values are shared by those people in Afghanistan who were fighting for their freedom and for a better life for themselves and their families. They include respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual; freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of association; commitment to the rule of law; parliamentary democracy; equality of opportunity, including for girls and women; a 'fair go' for all that embraces mutual respect, tolerance, compassion for those in need and equality of opportunity for all. Those are the values Australia shares with the people in Afghanistan who've been fighting for freedom, and it's one of the reasons we have that special bond.

It is a special bond born from the vibrant Australian Afghan community, the diaspora, who have contributed so much to Australia, who are now part of our Australian story and who have carried themselves with such dignity and grace in the most difficult of circumstances. It is a special bond which is a deep bond, an irrevocable bond and an unbreakable bond. And that special bond leads to a deep moral obligation—a moral obligation to provide a safe haven for those, and for the families of those, who put their own safety at risk by serving alongside our ADF and by working with representatives of our civic society to help build a democratic civic society in Afghanistan; and a moral obligation to work with the Australian Afghani diaspora, as we have all been doing over the past few weeks, to provide a home for those Afghanis who have a connection with Australia through family, education or community or through fighting for our common values.

All of us—all of us—would have experienced communication and discussions with people who share those values, whether they are women journalists who were part of creating opportunity not only for themselves but also for women and young girls in Afghanistan; whether they are political leaders, some of whom who had received asylum in Australia in the early 2000s, had gone back to Afghanistan and become part of civic society in Afghanistan in the modern day, and are now seeking refuge again; or whether they are Afghanis who were educated in Australia—received higher education and opportunities through Australia—and returned to their home country and who are now suffering persecution. We have a moral obligation to work with the Australian Afghani diaspora, as we have been doing and as we are currently doing at Kabul international airport, to provide safety for those people. And we have a moral obligation to do whatever else we can to help the people of Afghanistan through urgent humanitarian assistance, including assistance needed as a result of drought, for the upcoming winter or for emergency housing for those who have been displaced by the violence which has occurred in Afghanistan.

I salute our ADF personnel, the personnel at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the personnel at the Department of Home Affairs—all those people, part of our Australian community, who in many cases are putting their own lives at risk in Afghanistan today at Kabul international airport to help people in need. I salute every single one of them and their families and I salute all of those who have served either through the ADF or through other community or government organisations in Afghanistan. I salute every single one of them, because in discharging their duties they're not just doing what they need to do to discharge their duty; they are also discharging our moral obligation, a moral obligation which arises from Australia's special bond with Afghanistan and its people.