Harry Quick (Franklin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

About 12 weeks ago this excellent report, Overseas adoption in Australia, was tabled in this parliament. It contained 27 excellent recommendations and was a labour of love by members of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Human Services. Members of the committee and, more importantly, families who adopted children from overseas and those currently awaiting approval to adopt children are waiting with bated breath for the government’s response to this long awaited report. I was delighted to hear a few moments ago the honourable member for Mackellar’s statement that the various federal ministers are working to ensure that our recommendations are addressed as quickly as possible. One hopes they also will look at our other excellent report on substance abuse, which has been shelved.

Australia prides itself on being egalitarian, warm hearted and responsive to crises that affect the lives of young children in so many basket case African countries and neighbouring countries in our region. The tsunami crisis saw Australians donate money, materials and expertise on an unprecedented scale. The plight of the countless orphans in Indonesia alone tugged at the heartstrings of so many families here in Australia. I think this was especially so for those Australian families who have made that special sacrifice and adopted children from overseas.

As I said, last December those of us who proudly serve on the House committee spoke on this excellent report. The report highlighted the antiadoption ethos and stance long espoused by state departments responsible for the health and welfare of children. This antiadoption ethos surprised all members of the House committee as we travelled throughout the length and breadth of our country taking evidence. It goes a long way to explaining why Australia’s rate of intercountry adoption is significantly lower than that of leading Western nations. I think it is something that we should be ashamed of and embarrassed about. It is interesting, as we debate this private member’s motion—and I thank the honourable member for Mackellar for raising the issue and giving us another opportunity to debate it—that everyone in this House is considering their conscience and how they are going to vote on an issue relating to the lives of young children. One would hope that this excellent report does receive the interest, the introspection and the follow-up it deserves not only from the various ministers who are in a position of authority at the moment but from all members of the House.

I honestly believe our low rates do not reflect a lack of interest and enthusiasm for intercountry adoptions. Rather, the opposite is the case. I would like to express publicly my deep appreciation to and admiration for those families who have gone through the tortuous process that is intercountry adoption. In my December speech I highlighted many of those, and if you read the report you will with some amazement read of the hoops that people are forced to jump through. At our hearings committee members saw first hand the children adopted from many countries. We heard not only from their parents but more especially and occasionally from the children themselves. On the back of the report is the delightful statement from Amee, who appeared:

I am thankful to be here because when I went back a couple of years ago to Ethiopia I saw all the poverty over there. It opened my eyes. I am grateful to have an education, and that I am healthy and I can grow up, because over there the life expectancy for women is only about 38 ... I know that here I can live a health and prosperous life, so I am grateful for that.

I am grateful to Amee for telling us that story. I have seen first hand both sides of this issue. I have heard evidence from loving Australian families and I have visited the China Centre for Adoption Affairs in Beijing and met the wonderful people who work over there processing the 10,000 applications a year. I have also had the pleasure of walking in Tiananmen Square and meeting adults from various countries who are proudly showing their Chinese children the heritage and culture of that wonderful country. I had the temerity to go up and ask, ‘Have you adopted a child?’ They stood out as Anglo-Saxons either from Australia or European countries, with their Chinese children in their strollers. I told them who I was and what I had been involved in, and they proudly told me of their love of China and their ability to adopt these young children. All I can say is: for goodness sake, in the spirit of cooperation, let us have a Commonwealth-state response to this issue. (Time expired)

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