THE HON.

BILL SHORTEN
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG
SPEECH TO THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTYS NATIONAL CONFERENCE
MELBOURNE EXHIBITION AND CONVENTION CENTRE, MELBOURNE
SATURDAY, 25 JULY 2015
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Delegates, I open the second day of our conference and I'd like to do so by treating this
conference with respect and addressing a question of profound significance for
our party and our nation.
The need for a more humane and safer approach to asylum seekers.
I know people will bring different perspectives and deeply held principles to this debate.
I know that we do not all agree.
But, undoubtedly for all of us, our motives and views are genuinely held.
We know that Australia is a nation writ large because of migration.
We should never forget the debt we owe to generations of migrants, and refugees, who
in seeking a better life have enriched the lives of all Australians.
There can be no doubt that immigration has unreservedly been one of the secrets of
Australian success.
We are proud so many of us are Australians by choice.
We are a democratic party and everyone is entitled to their view.
And in this afternoon's debate every view will be offered, that is as it should be.

This morning, though I want to be honest with you and through you honest with the
Australian people.
I do believe in a new direction for Labor's immigration policies.
I want us to accept more refugees and ensure that we treat refugees more humanely.
I also want to guarantee that we keep closed the lethal journey between Java and
Christmas Island which has already claimed so many lives.
I stand here before you as the alternative Prime Minister of Australia to explain how I
have arrived at my position.
I believe that Australia can be the greater, kinder nation that we want our children to
see.
I stand here to explain what a Labor Government should do to deal with the
unprecedented global humanitarian crisis of displaced people.
And why I have come to believe that this policy keeps faith with our universal Labor
values and the interests of all Australians.
A Labor Government will keep more people safe in a more humane way.
Safe from persecution by dictatorial regimes.
Safe from the exploitation of criminal people smugglers who prey upon the vulnerable.
Safe from abuse in facilities that fail to even meet a basic standard of decency.
And safe from losing the people they love, from having their families torn apart by
drownings at sea .
In addressing this question, unlike our opponents, we do not play to the politics of fear.
The Labor Party I lead will never use labels to denigrate desperate people.
Fleeing persecution is not a crime.
And we do not seek to pander to a noisy, tiny minority who will never embrace
modern multicultural Australia.
But there are important truths we must face.
There is a history and a reality that we cannot ignore.

The challenge before us is real, the questions we grapple with as elemental as life and
death.
We must ensure that Australian Navy and Customs officials and Border Force people
never again face the catastrophic task of pulling bodies from the water off Christmas
Island.
We must maintain the regional resettlement agreements that Labor introduced, the
most effective deterrent and the clearest message to immoral people smugglers and
their criminal networks.
We know Labor's framework ensured people smugglers could no longer advertise their
false promise of settlement in Australia.
Within two months of Labor's regional agreements vessel arrivals dropped by 90 per
cent.
We also understand in a difficult world where there are now over 60 million
displaced people through no fault of their own, that the regional challenge of displaced
people seeking a better life will only increase and their desperation, risking their lives,
and the lives of their loved ones in unsafe vessels, will only become more intense.
Delegates, we should never tolerate the exploitation of vulnerable people.
But we must never allow people smugglers to take advantage of a perceived weakness.
Delegates, by eliminating incentives for people smugglers, by ensuring that they are
unable to traffic in their lethal lies, we can ensure that Australia provides safe haven to a
greater share of refugees and the displaced people arrive here more safely.
That is why a Labor Government must have the option of turning boats around, when it
is safe.
Delegates, I say today that by 2025 a Labor Government will double Australia's
annual humanitarian refugee intake to 27,000 people.
And because Labor believes in showing leadership in our region, we will dedicate
a portion of our program to resettling refugees from our region.
We will abolish temporary protection visas which trap people in that unfair state of
limbo.
We will reinstate the UN refugee convention in the Migration Act to reverse the
Abbott Government's retrograde efforts to undermine international law.
And at a time when international humanitarian need is greater than ever, when we have
all been witness to the shocking images of deaths in the Mediterranean this year.

A Labor Government will deliver historic $450 million contribution to the UN high
commissioner for refugees, boosting the capacity of the UNHCR in South East Asia and
the Pacific.
We will take up the overdue leadership role within our region, working and
engaging with our neighbours, especially our largest neighbour, Indonesia.
We will build a humanitarian framework to address the significant long-term challenge
that affects all of us in South-East Asia.
Delegates, Labor supports regional processing.
But processing offshore does not, for one minute, mean we can offshore or outsource
our responsibility to treat people fleeing from persecution with humanity.
Vulnerable people should never be subject to degrading violence in Australia's name.
And to guarantee the safety of all in detention Labor will work with our
international partners to implement independent oversight of every Australian funded
facility.
We will make sure that refugee claims are processed as quickly as possible, by
restoring access to the Refugee Review Tribunal and increasing transparency for
processing times.
Above all, a Labor Government will fulfil the solemn duty we owe to the youngest people
in our nation's care.
If we are elected, we will end the moral shame of children in detention as quickly as
possible.
And we will establish an independent children's advocate.
This will be a strong voice, separate from the department, separate from the Minister,
separate from government, serving only the interests of children seeking asylum.
And, in addition to the existing protecting whistle-blower safeguards, Labor will legislate
to impose mandatory reporting of any child abuse in all facilities.
This is Labor's comprehensive plan.
It is a plan that will ensure that Australia takes our fair share of refugees.
A plan that says that refugees in our care are treated with greater dignity and more
humanity.

A plan that ensures that Australia steps up and fulfils a greater responsibility as a good
global citizen.
Delegates, you and I know these are complex issues.
We engage with them intellectually, morally, emotionally.
But I did not enter politics to shirk hard decisions.
I stand here determined.
Determined for our country to be responsible in the world and secure at home.
Determined for us to be welcoming, kind, compassionate and safe, and determined that
Labor will achieve this for Australia.
ENDS