21 December 2018

Dear <<First Name>> 

ALP National Conference - Refugee Policy

Labor's National Conference took place on the 16/17/18 December 2018 at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

A number of Labor for Refugee members and supporters attended and prosecuted the case for reform to Labor's refugee policies.  Labor for Refugees negotiated with key Labor MPs from the time we arrived at Conference last Saturday, right up to Monday afternoon when the Chapter on refugees was scheduled for debate.

A significant number of changes were adopted by Conference Delegates, building on a Draft Platform that had already adopted a number of positive changes to Labor's refugee policies. 

Labor now has refugee policies that are far superior than they have been for a number of years and these newly adopted policies will improve the lives of thousands of people.

We did not achieve all of our aims, but came away with a package of reforms which we believe have addressed a number of our concerns.

A summary of the policies adopted, was compiled by our L4R Victorian President, Pauline Brown, who together with a team of L4R members from across Australia, attended conference.  I pay tribute to all of them for creating a formidable team of advocates and thank them for supporting me as I wove my way around the negotiations in my attempt to push for a better and fairer outcome for refugees. I particularly want to thank those young L4R members, who assisted by carrying our L4R leaflets and merchandise on the plane with them from Sydney to Adelaide and back.  We couldn't have done it without them.

A summary of the policies follows:

-         $500 million over the next five years to support the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to improve orderly regional processing and resettlement in the region
 
-         Negotiate an agreement with New Zealand to resettle refugees there, in a deal similar to the one secured with the United States, and approach other countries as well
 
-         Additional places in the form of Community Sponsorship increasing to 5,000 per year over and above the government sponsored places
 
-         Adopt the crossbench’s policy to move asylum seekers requiring medical attention off Nauru and Manus Island
 
-         Appoint a special envoy for refugee and asylum seeker issues to advance Australia’s interests on refugee issues within the region
 
-         People seeking asylum will have “means-tested access to funded migration assistance, and to appropriate social services, including income, crisis housing, healthcare, mental health, community, education and English as a second language support during the assessment of the claim for protection"
 
 
Ged Kearney MP moved the following motion which passed without dissent:
 
“Labor recognises that successive Coalition Governments have failed to negotiate viable, timely and durable third-country arrangements. This has left refugees and asylum seekers including children languishing in indefinite detention.
 
This conference condemns the failure of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government to properly manage off-shore processing and regional resettlement adequately and for playing with the lives of vulnerable people.
 
This conference calls on the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government to immediately accept New Zealand’s offer to resettle refugees by negotiating an agreement on similar terms and conditions as the United States Arrangement.
 
If elected, Labor will prioritise the resettlement of all eligible refugees currently on Manus and Nauru to the United States, New Zealand and other third countries.”
 
Ged’s speech is posted on our Labor for Refugees Facebook page.  I highly recommend watching it.
She is a passionate advocate for refugees and I know she will never cease representing those who are vulnerable.  Ged and a number of other Labor MP's did their best to support our Labor for Refugees reforms.
 
Labor for Refugees nationally, made submissions to the National Policy Forum late last year and proposed many changes which are included in the Platform:

• Family reunion

• Need for a bipartisan approach

• Recognition of the need to address the reasons for people to take a boat journey

• Inclusion of Safe Haven Enterprise Visas to be abolished and holders transitioned to permanent protection. This is extremely significant and will affect at least 8,000 people currently living in Australia.

• Inclusion of community groups contribution to settlement

• Recognition of the role of Comcare

• Recognition of the role of state child protection authorities.

 
There have been further changes which certainly fit with our philosophy:

• Strengthened processes relating to LGBTI people seeking asylum

• Time limit on detention

• Working with UNHCR and Indonesia to work through backlog of claims

• Protection for whistle-blowers

 
All of these add to the positive aspects of our existing ALP Platform:

• Increased intake to 27,000 a year

• Independent oversight of detention network

• Independent children’s advocate

• Mandatory reporting of child abuse in detention

• Reinstate the Refugee Review Tribunal

• Abolish TPVs and holders to be transitioned to permanent protection. This affects around 6,000 people currently living in Australia.

• Abolish the so-called Fast Track Process. This affects about 11,000 people currently living in Australia still waiting on decisions.

Labor for Refugees will continue our advocacy work on behalf of refugees and people seeking asylum and when Labor forms government next year (hopefully), we will continue doing so to ensure that all these reforms will be implemented.

L4R Fringe Event at Conference

Our Labor for Refugees Fringe Event "A Global Perspective on the Refugee Crisis" which took place on Monday 17 December, was a great success.  Our keynote speaker was Tim Costello, Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia.  Two former refugees also told their stories.  They were Mohammad Al-Khafaji, Acting Chief Executive Officer with the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA) and Ma-Musu Nyande who is a Youth Ambassador for the Sierra Leone Community Of South Australia.  She is a part-time writer and an online blogger who recently launched her business ‘Nyande Presents, which curates events.  Ma-Musu is currently completing her bachelors degree in Business Management and Marketing at Flinders University.

The room was filled to overflowing and the speakers were eloquent in their delivery.

There were three other refugee Fringe Events at the Conference including an Art Exhibition "All We Can't See: Illustrating the Nauru Files".  This provided Conference Delegates and Observers with plenty of food for thought re the plight of refugees and people seeking asylum and hopefully empowered everyone to do more.

Next L4R Meeting

Minutes of our last  meeting held in November can be accessed at L4RMinutes27Nov18

We will not be meeting again until February 2019.  I'll send out a meeting notice in early February.

For those of you who plan to be active in the NSW and Federal election campaigns (hopefully all of you), I wish you luck.

We thank you for all your support and hope to see you at our first meeting in February 2019.

Members of Labor for Refugees NSW Executive Committee, wish you all a safe and pleasant time over the festive season and a happy new year. 

Regards

Nizza Siano
Secretary L4R NSW
email:  contact@labor4refugees.com