House debates

Monday, 23 November 2015

Statements by Members

Shamaslipoor, Ms Mojgan

1:39 pm

Photo of Graham PerrettGraham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I rise to speak about a Yeronga State High School student who is not celebrating schoolies on the Gold Coast. Instead, she is in a detention facility in Darwin. I speak of Mojgan Shamaslipoor, who was a school student at Yeronga State High School but was removed from the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation Centre and transferred to a detention facility in Darwin. Sadly, when I attended the Yeronga State High School speech night last week I got to see her husband, Milad Jafari, receive an award on her behalf. We saw a video link with a message from Mojgan Shamaslipoor.

Obviously the minister has some capacity to make a decision that would let Milad and Mojgan be together. We have had the local community rallying. We saw that last week. We saw Sam Pidgeon from the Queensland Teachers Union, Kevin Bates and Jess Walker, a tireless English teacher, working on her behalf. And all of her fellow year 12 students are doing whatever they can. They are hoping to work with the immigration minister, as he has the capacity to make a decision that will see Milad and Mojgan together. She will be a great asset to the Australian community. We saw that in her studies, despite the tough educational circumstances she has had and the tough circumstances that life has dealt her.