Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on behalf of thousands of people whose lives have been marked by unimaginable hardship at the hands of our broken immigration system. I stand here with the words of Praveena, a courageous 22-year-old who I met on Saturday, ringing in my ears—a refugee, a national powerlifting champion and, more than that, a proud Australian who, after 12 years, is still waiting for her Australian citizenship.

Praveena is a champion. She won the state powerlifting champions in WA, and then represented our great state on the national stage and became the national champion. This gave her the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent Australia on the international stage. However, despite living and learning in WA since she was nine, she still has not received the basic right of Australian citizenship. Because of this, she was denied her dream of competing and representing her state and country. This isn't even the toughest part of Praveena's story.

Imagine, if you will, having your life torn apart and having the safety of home and the love of family all shattered. Praveena's grandfather was brutally murdered, and her father disappeared. As a child, she fled to Australia with nothing but hope, a fragile dream of survival. Even here, in the land of the fair go, that hope was met with endless barriers, from being held in detention, denied basic human rights, to being told she has 28 days to leave the only home she has known. Yet she perseveres and has become a symbol of strength and determination.

Praveena is not alone in this struggle. There are thousands of others just like her—people who have called Australia home for over a decade yet live in fear of deportation. For people held in offshore detention, their bodies and minds are crushed under the weight of uncertainty, medical neglect and trauma.