Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I rise to express my heartfelt appreciation for the Refugee Women Walk for Fair Go. On Tuesday around 15 female asylum seekers completed a march from Sydney to Canberra. Driven by their passion and personal experiences, these courageous women, many of them from Tamil backgrounds, walked 340 kilometres over 15 days to advocate for the thousands of refugees who have been stuck in migration limbo.

Many of these 15 women arrived in Australia over a decade ago, fleeing abject poverty and persecution. They came to Australia to search for the same opportunities we enjoy today, safety and peace, but in the past decade these women and their families have been barred from much of what makes life in Australia so great, much of what many Australians take for granted—the opportunity to work in any area they choose, the opportunity to send their children to university in HECS places and to access TAFE and the opportunity to get full access to Medicare and superannuation.

As well as being refugees, these women are mothers, friends, sisters and colleagues. They're active members of our community. Every day they make a positive contribution to our society. I'm confident that they will continue to contribute to our local communities. My message to them is simple: you are valued; your contribution to Australia is appreciated. I had the honour of delivering this message in person earlier this week, when I met with these inspiring women at Parliament House. I note that this amazing feat of activism and advocacy was made possible through the efforts of many local Tamil organisations and supporters.

The second issue I want to address is the situation in Gaza. The world is watching a complete tragedy for the innocent Israelis and innocent Palestinians who are victims in this situation. Many Australians are understandably shocked by the horrific violence and loss of life. The feedback I have from my community, every day, concerns the need to protect and value all human life. My community calls for recognition of Palestinian suffering and loss to the same degree as Israeli suffering and loss. All human life is sacred, and all innocent civilians should be protected. I've had hundreds of messages from my community, from people who have friends, families and loved ones who've been killed or subjected to terrible suffering. Of course I want to see a cessation of hostilities. Everybody wants to see the killing stop, and the cry for a ceasefire is an entirely and deeply human response to the humanitarian disaster the world is witnessing. Everybody wants to see innocent people live in peace. A ceasefire requires both parties to agree; by its nature, a ceasefire cannot be one-sided. Hamas still holds over 200 hostages as human shields and has a stated intent to kill Israelis and destroy the State of Israel.

Australia has led international calls for humanitarian assistance and calls for the fighting to stop so that food, medicine and other assistance can be brought into Gaza. Clearly, much more is needed. Here at home, we have an urgent responsibility to ensure that the most precious elements of being Australian are maintained. Harmonious multiculturalism is something we have built in this country, and we should fight to protect it. As leaders, we have a responsibility to calm tensions here at home, not to inflame them. We must ensure that all Australian Jews feel safe and secure and that all Australian Muslims feel safe and secure. Australian Muslims and Jews are good people who deserve to live in this country in peace and security.