Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025, another cruel attack on refugees and immigrants by the Labor government, removes their basic right to natural justice. Not content with their anti-refugee laws last term, passed through with the coalition, Labor are now doubling down. What does this bill actually do? It is designed to forcibly remove people to Nauru without their having any right to see the application that the government is making. It removes any right to an appeal process, with no opportunity for them to make representations about why their removal would be unsafe or explain to the government of Nauru why they shouldn't be deported there. Labor are making it retrospective as well to cover for previous, illegal breaches of procedural fairness that are being challenged in court. These are basic rights for procedural fairness that should apply to everyone—no exceptions. Everyone is equal under the law, no matter where they're born.

The Nauru president has made it clear that he intends to send people Australia deports there back to the country that they have fled. Make no mistake, this puts these refugees' lives in danger. It is unspeakably cruel.

This is Labor with a majority, 94 seats, attacking refugees and depriving them of basic procedural fairness and natural justice. The fact that there is no-one from the government speaking to this bill speaks volumes, doesn't it? It speaks for itself. They should be ashamed because, as long as they keep fanning the flames of anti-migrant and anti-refugee sentiment, they will keep seeing a rise in far-right extremism, and we'll keep seeing what we saw over the weekend.

It's the oldest trick in the book. Every time there's a crisis, Labor and the Liberals point their fingers at immigrants. Some do it overtly; others just dog whistle. But the intent is the same. The intent is to distract from the fact that it's tax breaks for investors that's driving housing unaffordability; distract from the fact that the major parties are not willing to tax massive multinational corporations to fund the public hospitals, the schools, the housing and the transport that we need; and distract from the fact that it's massive monopoly supermarkets that are driving surging supermarket prices. Just last year, Labor and the Liberals went after international students, scapegoating them for the housing crisis. Now they're cracking down once again on refugees, spending $400 million of taxpayer money to deport a few hundred refugees to Nauru. This is the tragic outcome of a bipartisan 'tough on borders' agenda.

Then they scratch their heads and wonder why Nazis feel emboldened to hold rallies in our cities. Labor and the Liberals put out strongly worded statements defending our 'social cohesion'. They should look in the mirror. If you govern for massive corporations, if you let life get harder for everyday people and if you dog whistle at immigrants, you are providing the oxygen for the far right. Shame on you.

I guess it's good to know who Labor and the Liberals will target and who they'll protect. Labor and the Liberals will break—

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