Ms GILLARD —I rise today to raise an aspect of immigration policy. Clearly the question of immigration policy is a complex one, raising, as it does, the need to balance the national interest, the rights and expectations of individuals and the value, that I hope we all hold, of compassion. There is a question as to whether or not we have the balance right in the area of reuniting aged parents with families resident in Australia, technically defined as applications for visas in subclass 103.

Numbers have been consistently cut in this area. In 1995-96, 8,900 visas were issued under this category. By 1997-98, that had been slashed to 1,000 visas. It should be noted that in late 1998 the government introduced a new class of parental reunion visa known as subclass 113. Application could be made under this subclass provided additional fees were paid, including fees of $4,000 for a single application, $6,000 for an application in respect of a couple, a medical bond of $5,000, plus an assurance of support compulsory bond of $4,000 per main applicant and $2,000 per additional adult. In total, the cost of sponsoring parents to Australia under this subclass became $17,060 plus air fares.

On 31 March of this year the Senate disallowed this regulation on the basis that it believed it was inappropriate that a special subclass be established which could effectively be accessed dependent on capacity to pay. In response to this disallowance, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs further cut the number of parental reunion visas to 500. Given that the current estimate of numbers in the queue is up to 20,000, the mathematics do not really add up when you are necessarily dealing with aged people who quite literally might die waiting in the queue.

This is a matter consistently raised with me in my electorate, and it has been specifically raised on behalf of an application for a visa by a Mrs Roghaieh Kouhbor. The constituent who raised it with me is Ms Shahnaz Kouhbor, who seeks to have her aged mother reunite with her family—with Ms Shahnaz Kouhbor and Ms Shahnaz Kouhbor's three brothers and sisters, all of whom are resident in Victoria. Her mother is 72 years old, lives in Iran, is widowed and is a member of the Baha'i Faith, which has had a long history of discrimination in Iran.

Consequently, in respect of the discrimination against members of the Baha'i Faith, the United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Committee has passed resolutions every year dealing with matters like unjustified detention, discrimination in educational institutions and the like. In these circumstances, I think there is generally a need for compassion and specifically in this case. (Time expired)