SENATOR KRISTINA KENEALLY
DEPUTY LABOR LEADER IN THE SENATE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
SENATOR FOR NEW SOUTH WALES

 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2SM WITH MARCUS PAUL IN THE MORNING
WEDNESDAY, 24 FEBRUARY 2021
 
SUBJECTS: Biloela Family; Alleged assault in Parliament House; JobSeeker rate.

MARCUS PAUL, HOST: Now, a Tamil family seeking asylum here in Australia will remain, as we know, on Christmas Islands, for now. So after the full Federal Court upheld a previous ruling relating to the immigration status of their youngest child, lawyers with the family and are calling on the federal Government to immediately release the family from detention. 

Priya and Nades and their Australian born daughters Kopika, who's five, and Tharunicaa, who's three, have been living in - or had been living in - Biloela in Central Queensland. But of course, we know back in 2018, immigration officials transferred them to a Melbourne detention centre. And they were then shipped off to Christmas Island of Western Australia as a last minute injunction on an attempt to deport them to Sri Lanka.

It's costing a fortune to keep these four people - four people. It's costing taxpayers an absolute fortune to keep them locked away.

And there's a campaign that's been running now for quite some time by a number of high profile politicians, and the support keeps growing, to get this family "hashtag" Home to Bilo or Belo. I think it's Bilo.

Supporters of this family now include former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Julie Bishop, Michael McCormick, and Jim Molan. They join Anthony Albanese, Barnaby Joyce, Andrew Giles, Alan Jones, myself and countless others. In wanting this family sent home. Kristina Keneally is also a supporter of this campaign and she joins us on the program. Kristina, Good morning. 

KRISTINA KENEALLY, SHADOW MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: Good morning Marcus and good morning to your listeners.

PAUL: Thank you. It's time to bring this sorry saga to an absolute conclusion, get this family back home.

KENEALLY: Marcus, you're absolutely right. It is costing us $50 million so far, to keep this family of four, including their two Australian born children, locked up in immigration detention on Christmas Island. 

They pose no risk to the community, their community in Biloela wants them back. And as you point out, this is not a Labor-Liberal, left-right issue, across the political spectrum, people want this family to come home to their local community in Queensland. The only three people it seems in Australia who want this family to remain in detention are the three people who have the power to end this nightmare today - Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton and Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.

PAUL: Alright, well Mr. Hawke has an opportunity to look at Biloela case with fresh eyes. As you mentioned, the number is staggering. I mean, aren't we being told after yesterday's announcement of a slight bump to the JobSeeker payment, aren't we being told that we have a Government that wants to be prudent with our taxpayer dollars, they want to ensure that they're not wasting money? And you know, they need to keep an eye on things like the budget bottom line for forward estimates. 

And yet they're quite happy to waste how much - $50 million to prove a political point and keep four people locked off and locked away, off our coast in WA, it just doesn't make sense. How hypocritical is this nonsense?

KENEALLY: Well, I mean, Josh Frydenberg stands up and says every dollar we're spending at the moment is a borrowed dollar. And we have to be very careful with it. Why are we spending 50 million borrowed dollars than they were going to have to pay back, so they'll be an interest cost, this will get more expensive, and this is going to keep on going. 

And the Federal Court recently said that the Commonwealth have not given this family, particularly their youngest daughter, due process in assessing her claim for protection. I mean, this is a farce. You know, Alex Hawke as the Immigration Minister, does not have to wait for a court decision or another process. He has the power today to sign a piece of paper and let this family, Nades and Priya and their two children to come home to Bilo. 

PAUL: Is it because Peter Dutton and perhaps Mr. Hawke and certainly the Prime Minister Scott Morrison want to continually prove or provide a political point if you like in, in order to keep our borders safe and secure? We all know we need to keep our borders safe and secure. We all get that.

KENEALLY: Of course we do. Of course we do. And you know, Labor has supported strong measures to keep the border safe including boat turn-backs, regional processing centres. 

And quite frankly, the idea though, that this family who were allowed to come to Australia, allowed to get married, allowed to have children. They worked, they paid taxes, they volunteered in the local community. They were known and loved by the Biloela community. The fact that they were bundled out of their house, in the middle of the night, shipped off to an immigration detention centre in Melbourne and shipped off to another immigration detention centre in Christmas Island, it smacks of cruelty. It smacks of hard-heartedness. It smacks of stubbornness. 

And what I would say to the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, in here the other day, he made reference, he is the father of daughters, and he can't conceive of himself as anything other than a husband and the father of daughters, you know, and that's how he somehow needed to process the horrible allegation of rape of a young woman here in the Defence Minister's office. What I say to him, if you are the father of daughters, look at your two children, as Prime Minister and imagine what their life would be like if they were two little girls locked up on Christmas Island, if they had spent most of their life now locked up in immigration detention and think about what you would want for your daughters in that situation, and let them come home. 

PAUL: Alright, just on a couple of other issues. First of all, go to, we've got to be very careful now because the young woman at the centre of the initial incident that's alleged, Brittany Higgins, will be speaking to the Federal Police today. And she'll be making a complaint now, hopefully, complete arm's length of the immigration, of the Ministers and political pressure and all the rest. 

Even her partner and I'm going to talk about that later on the program, her partner David, who's an old producer of mine at Radio 2CC in Canberra, he's had to quit his job because he fears repercussions in the in the future. But this whole thing has been handled abysmally. Kristina?

KENEALLY: Oh it has, and I mean, deeply disturbing allegations, they're shocking to think that we're even having to say sentences like "a rape that allegedly occurred on the Minister's couch in the Minister's office." And, you know, we have to acknowledge and respect the bravery of Brittany Higgins and every other woman who is now coming forward. And, you know, our determination is that the wishes and the interests of Brittany Higgins and these women are respected and supported. 

But I just do not understand at a human level, set aside all the responsibilities the Defence Minister should have had as an employer, but as a human level, as a human being, how you can live for two years, knowing that this alleged rape occurred in your office. And the victim has not had the support, the medical or psychological support, or the access to justice that she should have. 

And that's what I think is the extraordinary horror of this is not just the alleged rape, but also the compounding trauma of the last two years.

PAUL: Alright. Now, let's move on to this increase to the JobSeeker payment. Unemployed Australians will get an extra $50 a fortnight - very generous. For the COVID-19 supplement ends in March, the Federal Government is cracking down on job seekers who shirk work or refuse to work. 

I've spoken to the unemployment union this morning and I've, I've heard plenty, and I've received plenty of correspondence from those that work in the social security sector. They're appalled. I mean, this isn't an increase. Basically, it's a decrease. But the Prime Minister will try and promote it, as he always does with more slogans and marketing today suggesting that he is the only Prime Minister to have effectively increased the dole since the 1990s. That's just rubbish.

KENEALLY: Look, the government did the right thing during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, and they increased JobSeeker with a supplement that meant for the first time there were Australians who could do things like buy fresh fruit and vegetables, get a new pair of shoes, get eyeglasses fixed. 

And can I just make the point, it's not just about those individuals having access to basic quality of life necessities, it's also about them spending money in the local communities because every time you buy shoes, or or fruit and vegetables or get your eyeglasses fixed, you're spending money in a local shop.

PAUL: Well two-thirds out of every dollar that's spent, or two out of three dollars, that we give out in Social Security payments, Kristina, are recirculated back into the economy. 

KENEALLY: Absolutely. Absolutely. And right now with the economy, struggling with work being so insecure, with, with wages being stagnant, what the last thing the economy needs is a cut. 

But yet, what we're going to see here really is an increase of about $3, $3.50 per day taking the total to $43.50 per day. Now that's incredibly difficult to live on, especially if you're in the private rental market, or especially if you've run down your savings, if you had any, during the Coronavirus. But yet this will be the relevant reality for 1.3 million Australians come 1 April. 

So what we are saying is, one, we're not going to oppose an increase of any type, like I think it would be ridiculous to oppose an increase of any sort. But, you know, I think with this government, with Scott Morrison in particular, the devil is always in the detail. And what we do need to see here is how, they need to explain how, one, this amount is enough to assist families and JobKeeper to actually meet the cost of living here, because in Australia, families and their children to be able to live with dignity.

And how do you I mean, I think for a lot of people, your listeners who will either have themselves been in difficult economic circumstances or know someone who is, you know, when you go to do things like apply for a job, you need to be able to get transport, you might be able to get some additional training, you need to get clothes to where you need to get your you know, you have made sure you have access to dental and medical care. 

PAUL: You can't do that on $3.60 extra per day and the new figure really, it represents a $100 per fortnight cut in the rate as the Coronavirus supplement of 150 bucks is due to end on the end of next month. 

Anyway, Kristina I'll leave it there. We'll have more to talk about no doubt next week. Thank you for joining us on the program. Again that hashtag Home To Bilo - is it Bilo or Belo?

KENEALLY: Bilo. Biloela. 

PAUL: So I get on board. Plenty of others are, including Anthony Albanese and from the from the other side of politics, Tony Abbott, Julie Bishop, Michael McCormick, Jim Molan, Barnaby Joyce, even along with Albo and Andrew Giles. 

There are countless others who want this family returned home to Bilo and you're good self, Kristina Keneally. It's great to have you on the programs this morning. 

KENEALLY: Thank you, Marcus.

ENDS