Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2113 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

Mr Speaker, the experience of being a refugee is something that is fresh in the minds of many Canberrans, although, for many of us, the notion is quite remote. There are very few native-born Australians who have any conception of what it means to be a refugee. It is regrettable that, even in our small community, we have a considerable number of people for whom a first-hand experience of trauma has led to their attempting to make a new life in this country. Shortly after World War II, some of those people began arriving here from northern Europe and southern Europe - principally, however, from Europe.

In the years since then, we have seen refugees coming from many countries. We have had them from Vietnam after the communist takeover there. More recently, we have seen people fleeing from the horrors of war-torn Bosnia. Along the way, we have had refugees from places like Chile, Iran, El Salvador and Afghanistan. So, we have had people from many countries throughout the world who have sought refuge in this country. The sad thing is that the number of refugees throughout the world is growing. It has been increasing steadily from about 11 million in 1986, when the first Refugee Week was celebrated here, to about 15 million in 1990 and 23 million in 1995. What that means is that there are more refugees in the world than there are people living in this country. That is a staggering figure when you think about it. Stressed in another way, one in every 115 people have been forced to flee their homes at some stage in their lives. You can imagine what trauma there would be in this country if you looked around your own neighbourhood and you knew that one in every 115 of your neighbours had had to flee their homes because of war deprivation or deprivation of civil liberties - the many reasons why people throughout the rest of the world are forced to flee their homeland and seek somewhere else to live. I think it is something that we in this country need to dwell on.

Refugee Week provides an opportunity to raise community awareness about the complex issues facing refugees and displaced people in the world. It is sometimes hard to imagine what it is like to be a refugee - because we have no experience of it - to leave everything that you have grown up with, everything that you are familiar with, all of your personal property, your circle of friends and your culture and to pack up what few bags you can carry and take them away with you to another country, particularly when that departure is often the result of some extremely traumatic personal experience, including in many cases personal torture, but certainly the deprivation of civil liberties and the destruction of everything that you own.

It is difficult for some of us to make the connection between our own personal experiences and those of the refugees who have gone through that experience and have come to this country. The theme of Refugee Week this year is, in fact, to help make the connection. There is an invitation to all Australians to help make the connection with refugees by encouraging individuals and communities to reflect on the many global situations that give rise to refugee situations and the many complex issues that relate to the repatriation and rehabilitation of refugees. It is also a celebration of the contribution that refugees have made to Australian society in particular.

On that latter question, Mr Speaker, it is interesting that people who come from such diverse backgrounds, under such traumatic circumstances, often arriving in this country with nothing, do not just give up. Their contribution to this country has been enormous. I must make the distinction between migrants, of whom there have been millions,

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .