Over 20 Australian children have been held in desert detention camps in Syria for half-a-decade. One Nation, the Liberals and Labor have condemned these children to a dangerous and uncertain future in their lurch towards anti-immigration dog whistling.
Responding to the hateful campaigning of One Nation, the current Coalition Leader, Angus Taylor, now wants to make it a crime to help these children. This needs repeating, the Coalition wants to make it a crime to help bring Australian children to safety.
This is not a gimmick, it is not a sound bite, it is not a political move. This is a betrayal of core human values.
Senator Shoebridge, Greens Spokesperson on Home Affairs, said:
"The first responsibility of any Australian government is to keep Australian children safe. It is extraordinary how few politicians in Canberra seem to understand this basic fact.
"Last September I met with one of the children held in these camps who was 6 years old and spoke with a broad Australian accent that took me straight home. She drew me a picture of her favourite story, Rapunzel, with roses she had never seen in a garden she could only dream of.
"The 23 Australian children trapped in the dangerous Syrian detention camp are victims of ISIS. They had no choice in going to Syria to have their childhoods devastated like this.
"It is shocking that both Angus Taylor and Anthony Albanese are failing a moral test that was set by Scott Morrsion who said when he assisted children to return in 2020 that 'these young children who are coming back to Australia, they can't be held responsible for the crimes of their parents.'
"The women and children who are Australian citizens will come home, the only thing that will change is how they come home. Will it be in an orderly and monitored way where Australian agencies can integrate people back into the community and monitor community safety or will it be an unplanned and risky mess?
"One Nation, Labor and the Coalition are in a race to the bottom here, demonising children, stoking fear and now threatening to jail people for the 'crime' of bringing kids to safety.
"When I met with local Syrian representatives last year they knew the dangers of ISIS, they had fought the appalling war against them and defeated them. They said Australia should bring these women and children home because they are our responsibility. The US has said the same.
"Once the Government abandons, defames and attacks children who have done nothing wrong, what is to stop them doing this to any Australian citizen?
"There is a moral vacuum at the heart of this debate which is the real threat to Australia, and that's the threat politics needs to meet."
