Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Macnamara for bringing forward an important motion. Our treatment of vulnerable people seeking asylum speaks to who we are as a nation. It's an issue of great concern to many people in my electorate of Warringah and, indeed, to many people in Australia more broadly. As the motion rightly points out and as has, I would say, been ignored by members of government, the program of alternative detention costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year and continues despite the physical and mental health impacts on those who remain in detention. Asylum seekers being held under these arrangements face not only disconnection and uncertainty but also a greater health risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past month, nearly one-third of refugees and asylum seekers at Melbourne's Park Hotel have tested positive for COVID-19, and the number is expected to grow. At least one refugee has been taken to hospital. It's one of the reasons that the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Amnesty International and the Australian Medical Association, as well as more than 1,000 medical professionals, have been calling for all people held in alternative places of detention to be released into the community.

Across the immigration detention network, vaccination rates are significantly lower than in the community at large: only 61 per cent have had one dose and 54 per cent are fully vaccinated. I call on the government to increase the vaccination efforts for all those who are vulnerable in those environments and expedite the release of asylum seekers and refugees into the community. We're not talking about a large group of people, and some of the narrative that comes from members of government really is ridiculous when it comes to this issue. There are currently 114 people being detained in the alternative places of detention. Earlier this year, Jacinda Ardern reaffirmed New Zealand's offer to resettle them in New Zealand, so I reiterate the call from Craig Foster, Sonny Bill Williams and many in our community to accept this offer. It's time to call game over and ask: why won't the government accept or even consider this offer? We know that 1,440 refugees are being held in onshore immigration detention and there are over 500 people in community detention, including 175 children. That is shameful. The case of the Biloela family continues to linger. That number in community detention includes them, three of whom have been granted year-long visas. But the youngest daughter is a pawn in the government's game and is not being granted that same status. That's why they remain indefinitely suffering in community detention in Perth while they're being prevented from being able to return to their home. It's time to end this charade of saying that this has, in some way, got something to do with protecting our border.

Finally, I turn to the Afghan evacuation. I'd like to think that, in these circumstances, we have actually had some common sense, some humanity. I want to thank Minister Payne and Minister Hawke and their officers for their cooperation and assistance during the recent evacuation efforts following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. I provided some assistance in getting female athletes out of the country. It was humbling and eye-opening for me and for my staff to hear about their experiences, and I thank the ministers and their teams for their assistance. I thank people like Craig Foster for his tireless efforts, as well as Nikki Dryden, Alison Battisson, Kurt Fearnley and the many, many others who were involved in this effort. Thank you for your dedication to getting these very vulnerable young women and their families to safety.

I'm continuing to work closely with groups supporting those who have made it here to Australia, and I will be following how they go in resettling here. And there are still so many trying to flee Afghanistan. The Sydney Alliance is one such group, who I will be meeting with next week to discuss their concerns with the government's response to the ongoing situation in Afghanistan. We need to expand our humanitarian visa scheme to include 20,000 places for Afghan refugees. We need to assist the Afghan Australians with urgent family reunification applications. And we need to grant permanent protection to Afghan nationals already in the community or in Australian immigration detention facilities.

It was devastating to hear earlier this week of the death of an interpreter who had assisted Australian Defence Force officials in our mission in Afghanistan. Sadly, I'm sure they're not the only one. I urge the government and its members to do more to assist the provision of temporary visas to those who are very much in need and those who have helped us. There are still so many questions around how we are treating these most vulnerable people and, as always, there's a lot of fearmongering that somehow this goes to our broader border policies, but, at the end of the day, it's our humanity that's at stake. Unfortunately, our actions do not say much for the humanity in Australia.

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