Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer has brought down his budget, and I say to the people of Australia: all you need to do is go to page 63 of Budget Paper No. 1 and have a look at the reconciliation of general government sector underlying cash balance estimates. What do you see? A sea of red ink as far as the eye can see.

Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

An improvement on 2022.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Ayres, you're warned.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A $27 billion deficit, 2024-25, a $42 billion deficit, 2025-26, a $35 billion deficit, 2026-27, a $37 billion deficit, 2027-28, a $36 billion deficit, 2028-29—a sea of red ink is what we've gotten from the Labor Party after three years in government. Australia cannot afford another three years of Labor.

Since being elected in 2019, I've had the privilege of rising in this place to speak about the achievements of our wonderful Queensland African community. Many of those achievements occurred under the outstanding leadership of Mr Beny Bol OAM in his capacity as President of the Queensland African Communities Council. Beny has now retired as president and has become the managing director of Village Support Ltd, where he will continue to play a key role in delivering youth and community engagement projects through the African village model. I congratulate Beny's successor as president, Mr Faysel Ahmed Selat. I worked closely with Faysel when he was President of the Somali Community Association of Queensland. I thank the elders of the Somali community in Queensland for all the support and mentoring that you've provided Faysel. Faysel is an outstanding leader, and it brings great honour to the Somali community in Queensland that he is now President of the Queensland African Communities Council.

I congratulate our wonderful Eritrean community on their support for Queenslanders in need during the floods caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The Eritrean Community Association in Queensland mobilised over 30 volunteers to assist people seeking refuge at the Bethania Community Centre. Working in 24-hour shifts, the volunteers provided essential services, including cooking, cleaning, offering emotional support and advising residents who sought refuge in the community centre on the free services available at the centre. In many cases, the volunteers took on significant risks, navigating flood-prone suburbs to provide support to their fellow Australians in their time of need. I say 'thank you' to our wonderful Queensland Eritrean community. Your actions reflect the very, very best of Australian values.

On Sunday 23 March, I attended a candlelit vigil convened by members of our Syrian community. In the last month, there have been horrific attacks on the Alawite community in Syria, including the slaughter of innocent civilians. I spoke to members of the community on Sunday night, and their stories were absolutely heartbreaking. Whilst the Australian government has rightly condemned the violence, we have a moral obligation to our Syrian community, including our Alawite community, to do more. I call upon the Australian government to advocate, through all international forums, the protection of all minority groups in Syria, including Alawites, the Druze and Kurds. I call upon the Australian government to listen to the concerns of our Syrian community with respect to the availability of humanitarian visas for Syrian minorities who are being persecuted. In particular, I refer to a matter which was raised with me on Sunday evening by members of the community. There are practical difficulties facing applicants who have Australian family connections and who are currently hiding in Syria and unable to make applications from outside Syria. Those practical considerations need to be considered by the Australian government. Now is the time for all of us to do whatever we can to support our Syrian community.

Earlier today, on the lawns outside Parliament House, the Congolese community presented me with a letter addressed to all members of the Australian parliament. It calls for the Australian government to do all that it can to use its influence to bring about justice and peace in the DRC. Australia must bring our international influence to bear to stop foreign interference in the DRC and the pilfering of the mineral resources of the DRC. These resources should be for the benefit of the people of the DRC, not outsiders who illegally mine and export those resources for their own profiteering. International pressure should be exerted upon Rwanda to stop its support for the M23 rebel group. Rwanda's support for the M23 rebel group is clearly documented in the UN Group of Experts report which was delivered to the Security Council on 27 December 2024. Australia should increase its humanitarian aid and make sure that aid reaches those in need. That was a point which was stressed to me by members of the Congolese community earlier today. The government should also provide support to the community in Australia as it deals with the horrendous trauma that has been caused by years and years of violence in the DRC. I thank the members of the Congolese diaspora from all over Australia who came to the lawns of Parliament House to deliver their message, and I now convey that message to all of the members of the Australian Senate on their behalf.

Mr Acting Deputy President McGrath, I'm sure that, as a Queensland senator, you agree that Queenslanders of Chinese heritage have made an outstanding contribution to our home state of Queensland. This contribution is celebrated in the Queensland Chinese Museum, which is an online virtual museum. The Chinese Museum of Queensland was relaunched; it's a museum which is available on the internet, a virtual museum, and it documents the stories and records of the Chinese community since the mid-1800s.

In exploring the website, I was very deeply moved by the telling of the story of the anti-Chinese riots in Brisbane on 5 May 1888, on the night of a Queensland election. An alcohol fuelled mob attacked Chinese businesses, including the successful trading business owned by Sum Chick Tong and Leong Way Ting. After the disastrous attack, their business, which they'd worked so hard to build up, not just in Brisbane but also in Stanthorpe, entered insolvency as a direct result of that attack on that dreadful night. It is a heartbreaking story but a story which must be told. I pay my heartfelt thanks to the founders of the museum and the management committee, and I pledge my support to realise the dream of a physical museum, a just tribute to Queenslanders of Chinese heritage both past and present.

Finally, I should note the passing of our good friend Mr Jimmy Wang a number of weeks ago. Jimmy was a wonderful member of the Liberal National Party family. After arriving in Queensland, he built a successful small business, and he was also chair of our Chinese heritage branch. He worked extremely hard promoting the values of the Liberal National Party. He was a tireless worker for everything we believed in, and I'd like to say to Jimmy's family that we will continue to honour Jimmy's contribution and we should all reflect on the contribution which Jimmy made to political life in this country, including the extremely important task of advocating for the values which our party believes in to new Australians. Thank you, Jimmy Wang. My heartfelt thanks, Jimmy, for your service to our party.