20th Jun 2018, 6:07 PM – Senate Motions - World Refugee Day - Support and settle refugees

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Greens Senator Nick McKim, which means it succeeded. Motions like these don’t make any legal changes by themselves, but they can be politically influential because they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Wednesday, 20 June 2018 is World Refugee Day 2018;

(ii) yesterday, on 19 June, the UNHCR reported that 68.5 million people around the world had been forcibly displaced from their homes by the end of 2017,

(iii) the UNHCR has also previously reported an annual average of 21.5 million people forcibly displaced by weather-related sudden onset hazards – such as floods, storms, wildfires, extreme temperature – each year since 2008, and

(iv) in 2016:

(A) Australia offered protection to 0.28 per cent of people seeking asylum around the world, and

(B) Australia assisted 1.43 per cent of the 2.5 million refugees who had their status recognised or were resettled worldwide; and

(b) agrees that refugees have contributed significantly to Australian communities and our multicultural society, and supports Australia showing global leadership in settling and supporting refugees.