Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's really important to note at the outset that the factual position of the Labor Party was contained in a motion on 14 November 2017 carried by 31 votes to 28 in this chamber. That motion clearly and succinctly set out the position of the Australian Labor Party. It reads:

(a) acknowledges the failure of the Abbott-Turnbull Government to manage offshore processing arrangements and secure other third country resettlement arrangements for eligible refugees;

(b) notes the United States of America refugee resettlement agreement will resettle up to 1250 eligible refugees from Manus Island and Nauru but that some eligible refugees will miss out on the opportunity to resettle in America;

(c) acknowledges that former Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced an agreement with Prime Minister John Key on 9 February 2013 at the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders' meeting that:

  (i) New Zealand would resettle 150 refugees annually from Australia, including refugees from Manus Island and Nauru, and

  (ii) the first refugees would be resettled in 2014;

(d) notes that, if former Prime Minister Tony Abbott had not withdrawn from the agreement, as many as 600 refugees would have been resettled in New Zealand by now;

(e) acknowledges the inquiry and report of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, Serious allegations of abuse, self-harm and neglect of asylum seekers in relation to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre, and any like allegations in relation to the Manus, and in particular, recommendation 7: 'The committee recommends that the Australian Government give serious consideration to all resettlement offers it receives, including the Government of New Zealand's offer to resettle refugees from Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Nauru. Further, if particular resettlement offers are considered unsuitable, the Government should clearly outline the reasons';

(f) notes that New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has renewed the offer to Australia to resettle 150 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru;

…   …   …

(h) calls on the Turnbull Government to immediately accept New Zealand's offer to resettle refugees from Manus Island and Nauru and begin negotiating appropriate conditions, similar to the United States refugee resettlement agreement, to ensure people smugglers do not exploit vulnerable people.

So our position is exceedingly clear. It was carried as a resolution of this chamber as late as November of 2017.

We can go around and around this argument as many times as you like—and Senator Macdonald and others can regurgitate their version of history and the failures of previous government—but the simple reality is that you've had five years in office and we have had a continual problem in this area. Really, there are two ways that we can sort this out. We can resettle them somewhere else or we can leave them as they are, in circumstances which—whilst Senator Macdonald will contest—don't appear to be ideal, or at the very least do not appear to be conducive to proper outcomes for mental health and the like. There can be many reasons for that. You can say it's the Greens party's problem for whipping up their expectations, but the reality is that I don't think the situation in Manus Island and Nauru has contributed to Australia's international reputation.

I had a very close look at the situation in Nauru when I chaired the inquiry into the allegations over there, and it was very, very clear that there were circumstances which challenge propriety, governance and fair play. When the government of Nauru throws out the Australian Federal Police representative for some advice they didn't welcome, when a magistrate has his visa removed for some advice that the government of Nauru didn't welcome and when we continue to pour unaudited quantities of money into Nauru, it is simply not good enough. We know—and there has been some media speculation and actual evidence on this—that we can spend up to $600,000 or $700,000 on each one of these people, keeping them in what are allegedly pretty miserable conditions.

Labor believes in strong borders. We believe in offshore processing. The regional settlement was the initiative of the Labor government. We believe in boats being turned back where it is safe to do so because it does save lives. We all watch the news. I have travelled through Italy and I have travelled through Europe, and people are making that perilous journey on unsafe boats. The Italian coastguard is doing an exemplary job saving people's lives. We know that this is an international economic problem.

I do applaud Senator Macdonald's comments about the great work Australia has done with the humanitarian intake. Per capita, we are probably one of the best in the world at that. We do it exceedingly well. I have travelled to Mount Gambier and been at citizenship ceremonies where the Karen refugee community in that area—all speaking English, all working and their kids excelling at school—have actually been absorbed into a regional community area with tremendous success. In the suburb I live in, the Afghani Hazara community have revitalised half a kilometre of Prospect Road with their business acumen and investment. They are doing great things. So we all acknowledge that refugees come here and contribute, but there has to be a process by which they come here and contribute, and people smugglers shouldn't be part of that process. We just don't accept that you should be able to fly, buy a ticket or come in on a boat.

We both have this problem. Ironically, as I have said here before, it's been on the agenda since 1 July 2011, I think the first day I was here. Senator Cash, on this side of the chamber, was articulating well what her view of the world was—sometimes a little shrilly, but she definitely put her point of view forward strongly. What we need to do here is resolve this. I don't think it's going to be resolved like an impasse at chess, where, 'Unless you go back to Iran,' who won't take you, 'you're not coming this way.' We have an offer from New Zealand, we have an offer from the United States and we have offers from other parts of the region. The government needs to be more proactive and diligent, and resolve this issue.

I accept the fact that we never want to have a resurrection of the boats. No-one wants to go through that awful tragedy off Christmas Island. There are people in this parliament who contributed in that inquiry who are still affected by that evidence. So we don't resile from the fact this is a really difficult issue for the parliament as a whole, but I think it is about time that all of the parties in this place tried to get common ground. We shouldn't be seeking the things that keep us apart; we should be looking for the things that bring us together and get closer to resolving this issue, whether it's getting the Trump administration to quicken the process and those genuine refugees being allowed to resettle in the United States and get on with their lives, or in New Zealand and get on with their lives. I think the hard-edged political factors in this are not conducive to good people outcomes.

I really don't think it is relevant to mention the electorate of Batman as some sort of panacea for this. If we do get a successful candidate for the Greens party in Batman, that will be the wish of the people of Batman. But it's not going to resolve anything in here. It is not going to resolve anything in here; it may bring another voice to their side of the table, but if that's a voice of disunity or of noncooperation and not trying to work through the problems and get resolution, then that's not really what should be promulgated by Senator McKim and his party. Electing one Greens person in Batman will not do one iota for resolution for people who are struggling to find resolution in Manus Island and or Nauru.

What we do need is a more collegiate effort in the parliament to get both sides—all sides; the four sides in this argument—to put together a genuine Australian position that restores our international reputation to where it should be: at the absolute peak. We have done this really well in the past. We have done humanitarian stuff really well in the past, and the cooperation that's been exhibited by Indonesia and others in these areas is exemplary. We should double our efforts in those areas. We should resolve this problem and take these people; it is a real stain on our reputation.