PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Ms WITTY (Melbourne) (17:48): I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) World Refugee Day is observed on 20 June to honour the strength and courage of people forced to flee their homes because of conflict or persecution; (b) Refugee Week is being held from 14 to 20 June 2026, marking 40 years of Refugee Week in Australia; (c) 2026 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, a vital international agreement protecting the rights and dignity of refugees; (d) Australia has now welcomed one million permanent refugee and humanitarian entrants since World War II; and (e) refugees have made an extraordinary contribution to modern Australia across community life, culture, business, sport and public service; and (2) acknowledges the Government's commitment to Australia's humanitarian program, including the 20,000-place annual Humanitarian Program, and its ongoing support for refugee protection, international cooperation and the rights and dignity of people forced to flee.
I rise today to move this motion as the proud representative of Melbourne, a community filled with compassion and support for people fleeing their homes. This motion carries a simple message: when people are forced to flee war, violence or persecution, Australia should meet them with decency. Earlier this month, we marked World Refugee Day and we celebrated Refugee Week in Australia.
We have been celebrating it for 40 years. It is a time to honour the courage of people forced to leave their homes, their communities and the people they love. No-one chooses to become a refugee.
No-one chooses to pack a whole life into one bag. No-one chooses to start again because home is no longer safe. That is why I have moved this motion.
It asks this House to recognise the dignity of refugees, their contribution and the responsibility we share. In 2026, we marked 75 years since the introduction of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. That convention was born from the horror of war and made a clear promise: people fleeing persecution have rights, and the nation has a responsibility to those people.
Our country has a proud place in the history of this promise. In 1954, Australia helped bring the Refugee Convention into force. But history is not something we simply look back on.
It lives on through the choices we make today, what we honour and what we refuse to forget. That is the choice the Albanese government is making. We protect and resettle 20,000 people a year under our humanitarian program.
We have provided a permanent pathway for people left for years on temporary protection visas and safe haven enterprise visas, ending years of uncertainty for people who had already rebuilt their lives here. We are supporting settlement services that help people learn English, find work, enrol their children in school, and we are making the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement program a permanent part of the humanitarian program, because communities across Australia want to do more than say welcome, they want to show welcome.
Australia has also continued to support refugee communities around the world through our work with the UNHCR and international cooperation. That is the kind of country I believe in, and it is the kind of community I am proud to represent. Recently I sat with the Grandmothers for Refugees, a national collective of volunteer grandmothers.
I sat with Clare, Jean, Susan and Virginia, who had just come from a public vigil, standing in their signature purple attire and holding signs with their motto 'kindness equals unity equals strength'. These are the people of Melbourne, the ones who continue to shine a light on the lived reality of refugees as people who have fled their homes seeking safety and kindness.
It says a lot about the people I have the honour of representing. When we sat together, the first thing the group of dedicated women asked was how can they help me represent refugees? That generosity of spirit reflects something much deeper about our community.
It's saying, 'You are safe here. You belong here.' Melbourne understands that welcoming refugees does not weaken our community; it strengthens it. Since the end of World War II, Australia has welcomed one million permanent refugee and humanitarian entrants—one million people, and one million stories of loss, courage, work, family, service and hope, and one million reminders that, when Australia opens its doors, people not only rebuild their lives here; they build ours too.
They have made Australia stronger. Today this motion is about more than a date on the calendar; it's about who we are. Australia is stronger when we are welcoming.
Australia is fairer when we protect people who need safety. Australia's most true to itself when we choose compassion over cruelty. That is the promise of Refugee Week, that is the promise of the Refugee Convention and that is the promise we must keep.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is there a seconder for the motion? Ms Thwaites: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.