Mr Speaker, here we are again, debating an urgent bill that this government wants to introduce and pass through this place the day after introducing it. This government’s track record of ramming migration amendments through parliament – with no proper debate, with no parliamentary scrutiny – is disgraceful.  

It is true that sometimes there are circumstances which require urgent action. This is not one of them.  

Passing legislation in haste, with no consultation, a curtailment of debate and a complete lack of committee scrutiny make a mockery of our parliamentary, and therefore our democratic processes.  

My amendment to the Bill does something very simple. It responds to the basic intent of the Bill, which is to suspend temporary visas – already issued – to people in certain identified, inconvenient locations.  

My amendment requires that, once the Immigration Minister takes that step, that the same number of additional humanitarian visas to be issued the following year as the number cancelled the previous year. That is, humanitarian visas additional to the usual number issued annually, in a number corresponding to the number suspended under this bill.  

For this purpose, in my amendment, “humanitarian visa” means a global special humanitarian visa (subclass 202), or a refugee visa (subclass 200, 201, 203 or 204).  

Since 1947, in the aftermath of World War II, Australia has a (mostly) proud history of accepting refugees in times of crisis.  

It would behove this government to reflect on the achievement of the Chifley Labor government after WWI, when over two years we welcomed 82,532 refugees. And that, at a time when our population was a mere 7.5 million people.1 Compare that to the average intake in the decade prior to 2022, of 18,000 per year.  

Numbers of humanitarian arrivals also increased substantially after the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and the Warsaw Pact countries’ invasion of then Czechoslovakia in 1968.2 

In the two decades following the Vietnam war, Australia resettled more than 100,000 Vietnamese refugees from various Asian countries.3 

And following the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, Prime Minister Bob Hawke effectively gave 25,000 people – students who were already here and their spouses and dependents – permanent residency in Australia. This was on top of any humanitarian intake at the time.  

But these are just numbers. There is absolutely no doubt that the nearly 1 million refugees we have welcomed to this country since the end of WWII have made an enormous, positive contribution. If you think hard enough about it, it’s probably true to say that almost every Australian would know, have gone to school with, have worked with, are neighbours with, a refugee. We know – from experience – that they are hard-working, kind, loyal, decent, wonderful people. We are all better for knowing them; Australia is a better place for having welcomed them.  

But this government, this week, the same week that it has announced that Australia will join the war, by sending a E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, medium range air-to-air missiles and 85 precious souls, to the UAE, has introduced to this place not legislation to help people impacted by the illegal war the Middle East, but legislation to block people coming here who had already been granted a temporary visa to this country. 

The changes the government is making today are allegedly intended, not as a measure to manage national security – but because we want to safeguard the humanitarian program. 

But there is another way of sorting this out – and it doesn’t have to be a demand management response, it can be a supply one. No change to those who currently have temporarily visas to enter Australian territories – and THEN still within the law, allow these people to apply for protections as they would do, should they find themselves NOW unable to return to their place of origin – in this time, most likely Iran or other targeted place.  

 If we are going to stop people already approved to come to Australia from making that trip, we should make a corresponding increase in the number of humanitarian visas we offer and approve. 

There is a geopolitical and humanitarian crisis facing the world and Australia must respond commensurate with the challenge that it is.   

I know many in my electorate of Bradfield would feel pride in our nation for standing unwaveringly alongside the people of Iran who are vulnerable to an oppressive regime. 

Australia needs to play its fair share in this.