Mr BRENDAN O’CONNOR (1:00 PM) —I also thank the member for Mitchell for moving this motion. I agree with much of what has been said already in the debate. I would not suggest I agree with everything the member for Mitchell has said. However, the substantial parts of the motion I do accept as being very significant. It is a wonderful thing that it is here to be debated. It is also important to reflect upon some of the comments made by the member for Parramatta. I, too, recall the days when the so-called boat people arrived. Being very young, it was a very memorable moment in my life because it was indeed a historic event. The member for Kooyong, whose memory probably is better than mine in relation to this matter—indeed, whose role was larger than mine—was quite right in saying that at the time it was not an easy issue to be dealt with. But a very new coalition government, under the stewardship of Prime Minister Fraser, handled the matter very well. I think it is fair to say that it may have been different if the same thing had happened only a number of years ago.

I do commend the member for Mitchell on moving this motion. Its content provides members with an ideal opportunity to reflect upon the courage and determination of those fleeing a war-torn nation; to remind ourselves of the contributions that those Vietnamese refugees and those that have since followed have made to Australia’s society; and to express sorrow at the now callous, somewhat brutal, manner in which refugees are dealt with by today’s government.

Between 1975 and 1981 between one million and two million people left Vietnam. It is estimated that half did so by boat. It is very hard to actually estimate the precise numbers. As we know, Vietnam was going through an awful conflict of its own. It would be fair to say that there would be divergent views in this place about the reasons for that war and our purpose there. But I think no-one in this place would disagree that, as a result of the war, people were displaced, particularly women and children but generally civilians. Fifty-six boatloads of Vietnamese asylum seekers arrived in Australia, as I understand it, totalling about 2,100 people in that five- or six-year period between early 1976 and 1981. It is important to note that, although the boats ceased arriving after 1981, we accepted over 55,000 resettled Vietnamese refugees from camps in Asia between 1975 and 1994 and another 95,000 Vietnamese as part of the family reunion program. So clearly in that period from 1975 through to today, you could almost say, there has been a generous and decent approach by governments, supported by opposition parties, to allow people to settle here, to find a home, and to wherever possible reconcile families that have been torn apart as a result of an awful war.

It is unfortunate, however, to see some of the changes in community attitudes. It has already been touched upon by earlier speakers. It is important to note—and the member for Kooyong did indicate—that there was still significant support in the late seventies for the so-called boat people, refugees from Vietnam. I believe one of the reasons for that support was the leadership shown by then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and the support by the Labor Party and other parties at the time in admitting those refugees into this country. Clearly that support, around 60 or 70 per cent at the time, has dropped rapidly when you consider the refugees from Iraq and other nations in most recent years. I have to suggest that one of the prime reasons that that has occurred has been the failure by this government, in particular of the Prime Minister, to show any leadership in looking after people leaving undemocratic tyrannies—like that we saw in Iraq. It is unfortunate that we have not resolved that. It is unfortunate that there is not a bipartisan position on refugees—indeed on detainees that are currently held in detention centres, many of whom should not be there. Certainly many of them have been there for too long. (Time expired)