David Pocock (ACT, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Wong. Minister, I would like to ask about Australia's commitment to Afghans who assisted our Defence Force personnel during the Afghanistan war—Afghan men and women who laid their lives on the line, risking everything to help us. Despite our country's commitment to protect them in return for their service, too many have been left behind. Two key programs, the locally engaged employee program and the pathway for high-risk women, have now closed, despite many Afghans not yet making it to Australia. You set out the principle yourself in this chamber in October 2023: Australia should stand by those who help us. Minister, is the government satisfied it has kept its word in getting the people who served Australia to safety?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Pocock. I do appreciate the question very much. It does give me the opportunity to talk a little bit about one of the programs you identified, the locally engaged employee program, and the mess that that was in when we came to government.

I will just make this point. I think we all recall the fall of Kabul. Unfortunately, there were too many Afghan citizens who worked for Australia or who were engaged in development projects or in other ways which put them at risk who were not processed by the Australian government prior to our withdrawal, and I asked many questions about that in opposition. I got answers that ministers saw it as a moral responsibility, a moral imperative. Their actions did not match their words, and when we came to government we saw, frankly, a mess when it came to the locally engaged employees' applications.

I commissioned a review of that by Rosemary Huxtable. I'm sorry, I'll come back on the name; I think that was another report. Then we acted in line with all of the recommendations. In fact, as foreign minister and with the ministers in the portfolio, we have certified more than 660 applications from Afghan locally engaged employees, which is more than the total approved under all previous foreign ministers combined since the program began.

As at 27 July 2026, 2,059 Afghan LEEs have been certified and over 5,700 have arrived in Australia. This comprises— (Time expired)

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pocock, first supplementary?

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister, for that. I've heard from veterans who talk about the guilt that they felt coming back to Australia while their Afghan colleagues and friends were left behind. One man, unnamed for his safety, served beside our soldiers in Uruzgan. His case sat untouched for six years, until a Taliban bomb left him fighting for his life. He almost died waiting for that decision. Will the government commit today to bringing every certified locally engaged employee home?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) | Link to this | Hansard source

It was Ms Vivienne Thom who did the report. I apologise for mixing up the two reports, which were certified at the same time. I indicate that the way in which the locally engaged employee program works is that those persons are then considered under Australia's wider humanitarian program and have a certain status as having been certified as an LEE under that program, more than 40 per cent of total offshore humanitarian program visa grants over the last four years have been to Afghan nationals. We've in fact granted more visas under that program to Afghan nationals than to any other national nationality. Five years on from the fall of Kabul, I say clearly that our thoughts are with the people of Afghanistan as well as the Afghan community here in Australia.

Sue Lines (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pocock, second supplementary?

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, these people have waited years. Why should they have to wait? This was a commitment that we gave to them as a country. They helped our troops, and we said that we would in turn help them. Is there a timeline on ensuring that all of them get to Australia, and will the government refer this program to the Auditor-General so that parliament can actually find out why this program has not delivered as we were promised?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) | Link to this | Hansard source

The program didn't deliver as it was promised because people were not processed under the previous government. We had thousands of applications, and they have now been dealt with. It took a lot longer than it ought have. The second point I make is that the program then gives people a right under the humanitarian program. There's not a separate visa. Obviously, there are calls on Australia's humanitarian program well in excess of the numbers of places which are allocated, but, as I said to you, you can see from the numbers the weight of that program: the largest single cohort is people from Afghanistan or Afghan nationals.

So I'm pleased that we have finally ensured that all of these applicants have been properly processed in accordance with Ms Thom's recommendations. (Time expired)