Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the government's response given by the Attorney-General (Senator Brandis) to a question without notice asked by Senator McKim today relating to Myanmar.

Make no mistake, we are seeing a humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Myanmar. It's as a result of a recent escalation in the persecution of the Rohingyan people in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. That persecution, in the main, has either been conducted or auspiced by the military in Myanmar. Recent figures from the UNHCR indicate that around 300,000 people have fled their homes and crossed the border into Bangladesh in the last 10 days. That's an average of 30,000 people a day. They are people just like us. They've got hopes and dreams for themselves, their families and their communities, just like we do. They've got aspirations to live in freedom, free from tyranny and free to make their own choices in life to the greatest extent possible, just like we do. Yet 300,000 of them, in the last 10 days, have been forced to uproot themselves from the places they love—their homes, their schools and their communities—due to ongoing persecution and terror by the Myanmar military.

The Australian government—to acknowledge a start—has responded; it has pledged up to $5 million extra to assist with the provision of humanitarian services. That's a good thing. But that money, because it hasn't been stated otherwise, will come out of Australia's existing foreign aid budget, as is the usual practice of this government. So that's money that won't be spent elsewhere on people in desperate need. What the government should've done is announce a funding commitment of greater than that which it has and make it additional to Australia's existing foreign affairs budget. The Prime Minister and the minister have had a couple of conversations with other global leaders. That's good too. But they need to be clear with the Myanmar government that what is happening in that country right now is unacceptable and what the Myanmar military is doing is unacceptable. Australia also needs to stand up and make sure we are playing a leadership role in facilitating the resettlement of people displaced by the humanitarian crisis and the actions of the Myanmar military in Myanmar right now. Let's not forget what we did just two years ago when the Syrian people were so terribly displaced by conflict in their country, when millions of them—countless millions—made the perilous and arduous journey on foot into Europe. We stepped up. Under Prime Minister Tony Abbott, we created an extra 12,000 places in Australia for Syrian refugees and put them on a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship in our country.

That's what we need to do for the Rohingyan people, who've been so terribly treated and so badly persecuted and who've been displaced from their home country and have fled in fear across the border to Bangladesh. Australia must announce an extra humanitarian intake for the Rohingyan people. It should be 20,000, which is what the Australian Greens called for after the Syrian crisis. As the welcoming, compassionate people that we are, we should accept those people into our country and put them on a pathway to protection, permanent residency and citizenship. It would show global leadership; it would show regional leadership; and it would help enhance regional stability in our area, something the Australian government has always claimed it wants to do. At its heart, it would be reaching out a hand to help some of our fellow human beings who are doing it so, so tough right now, fleeing violence, persecution and death and looking for a better life. We can help them find that better life and we should do that, just as we did for the Syrian refugees. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.