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

Australia faces a jobs and skills crisis. There are thousands of refugees and people seeking asylum who have no opportunity to work due to their visas. This includes an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of people on bridging visa E, who are without means to properly support their families. These are talented and hardworking people with skills in many of the sectors that have shortages. They want to contribute to our society and to our economy but have been prevented from doing so. In my electorate, this includes a young man from the Congo who has a job lined up in construction but is unable to take it because he's waiting over three months to receive work rights. Whilst he's been ably supported by the Sydney Asylum Seekers Centre, the delay is hurting him and hurting our economy. Swift action needs to start to address the blight of Australia's human rights record and support the urgent needs of businesses now.

I would also like to raise a worrying rise in anti-Semitism across our community. In the past two weeks, the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies has received reports of two new cases of anti-Semitism and bullying in Sydney's east. These include students reportedly performing Nazi salutes in boys changing rooms. These incidents come fresh off the back of revelations of another school, where students used a chat room to share racist, homophobic and violent misogynistic content. All members of our community need to feel safe and to be able to practise their faith in freedom. We need urgent action now to fight anti-Semitism.