Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak of the plight and the suffering of the Karen people in Burma, which they have endured for much of the last 50 years. They are peaceful people who have endured suffering, atrocity, murder and great difficulties within the military dictatorship of Burma. Many have lived in refugee camps for 10 years or more and, thankfully, many are now making Australia their home.

I raise this issue today to join those who have raised the matter before in this House and in other houses of parliament, in the United Kingdom and the US congress. I also raise it to pay tribute to a local church, the Croydon Hills Baptist Church in the electorate of Casey, which has done so much for so many of the Karen people in recent years, assisting them to make the Croydon community their local home in Australia. I particularly pay tribute to Gerry Riviere and all of the members of the Croydon Hills Baptist Church.

This week I will table a petition with 128 signatures from churchgoers asking that further efforts be made to assist the Karen people. Their story is one of tragedy but also one of hope. Jordan and Juni Pe, a Karen family who suffered greatly, came to this country under our refugee resettlement program. They have brought their immediate family out in recent years, 25 in all, and they have sponsored 30 other families out of their own pocket.

The Australian government recently announced some important funding for education and assistance and has also increased the quota of those able to come to Australia. The people of the Croydon Hills Baptist Church want to see that quota favourably reviewed and I support them wholeheartedly. I have had the privilege and the pleasure of going to the church and meeting some of these refugees from Burma, who are the most peaceful people you could meet and who have suffered so greatly over a long period of time.