Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

For one year and three months, Mostafa Azimitabar dreamt of sunlight. He said:

Many people think about buying a house, flying to Europe, visiting their friends … My dream was receiving sunlight. Something that people who are free, they never think about it. They have this beautiful gift, they can walk and they have sunlight. I was dreaming of this.

Moz, as he is known, is a Kurdish musician and artist. He fled persecution only to be indefinitely detained on Manus Island for six years. He came to Australia in 2019, under the medevac legislation, for which, I'm very proud to say, the former member for Wentworth was a champion. When that legislation was repealed, Moz once again faced indefinite detention.

At first, he was in Melbourne's Mantra hotel, where, he says, he could stick a hand out the window of his hotel room to feel sunlight. But then he was moved on to the Park Hotel, where his room had a dark glass window facing a concrete wall. He spent 23 hours a day in that room for months. Of that experience, he says, 'I still cannot understand why it happened.' Neither can I. Australia is one of the most prosperous nations in the country. We have a big heart. We go out of our way to help our neighbours. We look after each other. Frankly, we are built on the back of migration and refugees for absolutely generations.

Indefinite detention is cruel, inhumane and unnecessary. The indefinite detention regime the Australia government has run over the past decade is particularly inhumane. Sexual and physical abuse and self-harm are rampant. Those who've been indefinitely detained have serious long-term health effects, including complex PTSD. Those leaving their families behind to flee warfare and persecution deserve our generosity. They make a rich contribution to our country, which means our treatment of refugees is heartbreaking.

In my previous job, I was the CEO of the Australian Business and Community Network. I worked with 200 low-socioeconomic schools around Australia, and many of them had a significant number of young refugees in those schools. They were kind and absolutely delightful young people. Their teachers constantly talked about how they were taking their education in all their hands to try and achieve the best lives they possibly could for themselves and for their families. They were assets to our community. Moz himself is an example of the very way refugees enrich Australian life. He was a finalist in this year's Archibald Prize, using a toothbrush and coffee to paint his self-portrait.

Wentworth elected me in part because I want a kinder, more compassionate approach to refugees—an approach that recognises the humanity and contribution of people like Moz. Our community saw the compassion that Independents can inject into parliament when the former member for Wentworth, Dr Kerryn Phelps, championed medevac. That legislation saw hundreds of indefinitely detained refugees and asylum seekers come to Australia for urgent medical treatment. I will continue that fight for the fair treatment of refugees. I continue to urge the federal government to find humane solutions for genuine refugees ineligible for resettlement who will remain in the rightless limbo that prevents them from leading meaningful and productive lives in Australia.

Around 19,000 refugees have been living on temporary protection visas for up to 10 years, unable to fully settle in Australia, unable to fully reunite with their families and unable to make their full economic contribution to this country. These people are working here, they're paying taxes here, and their children go to school here. It is not right that we are treating them like second-class citizens.

Labor, during the election campaign, confirmed they oppose temporary protection visas. I urge them to act on those words. I urge the federal government to lift its annual intake of refugees to at least 18,000, to support calls from refugee advocate groups to offer an additional 20,000 humanitarian visas to families fleeing from Afghanistan and to provide additional humanitarian visas to those fleeing war in Ukraine. Labor, during the election campaign, pledged to increase Australia's annual intake to 27,000. I urge them to act on these words. I urge the federal government to end indefinite offshore and onshore detention. Labor committed to a maximum of 90 days of detention. I reflect on the member for Warringah's words, that the Prime Minister has been elected for 72 days. I urge them to act on indefinite detention, for Moz and for the good of the country.

Australia mistreated Moz. He is now free, but he will be forever affected by our cruel regime. His story is a reminder of how important it is for us to adopt a kinder, more compassionate refugee program. We have plenty of sunlight to share.

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