Chief Political Correspondent Catherine McGrath this week brings us some of the debates on this subject from the Parliament itself.
Australia announced a special 'one off' intake of refugees for permanent residency. They will come from UNHCR camps in and near Syria.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott outlined the plan.
"We will take an additional 12,000 people from the Syria Iraq conflict over and above our existing refugee and humanitarian programme. '
In the House of Representatives he said that Australia had decided to focus on giving residency to those who can't return.
And will also give funds to support nearly 1/4 million people stuck in UNHCR facilities.
"There are many many people, members of persecuted minorities currently displaced from their ancestoral homes who will never ever be able to go back to their homes in Syria. So I can announce today that the government will make available an additional 44 million dollars, this assist some 240,000 people currently in camps with food, shelter and clothign as winter approaches."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says Labor supports the offer of more places for refugees.
"I want to begin by welcoming the Prime Minister's decision to accept an additional 12,000 refugees displaced by the humanitarian crisis in Syria. IMportantly these places are being offered on the basis of need and no other consideration."
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Parliament the world is searching for a global solution.
"The cause of the exodus is the conflict in Syria and in Iraq and the choice facing many communities is stark. IN Syria it is the brutality of the Assad regime or the islamic extremists and Daesh has been the most egregious in its persecution of minorities in Syria. These terrorist activities continyue to a great threat to regional security including to civilian populations."
And Labor's Immigration spokesman Richard Marles spoke about the impact of the crisis.
"What we have witnessed unfold over the last several years in Syria due to the civil war in that county is a human tragedy on a genuinely extraordinary scale. 7 million people are said to be internally displaced, 4 million estimated to have fled Syria, 1.9 million now residing in Turkey, 1.1 million of those in Lebonon, representing one in four people in Lebonon today."
The Government has announced it will extend Australian airstrikes from Iraq into Syria.
The decision was made by the executive Government and did not go to parliament for approval.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale told the Senate that parliamentary approval should be given first.
"Why are we not having a debate in this parliament about why we are committing our troops to another conflict overeas. Particularly when the pRime Minister says that we will be committed toa war until we see and end to the genocide that is going on in Syria and we see and end to the terrorism that is being exported overseas. According to the Prime Minister that is what the end game looks like. Well if that is what the end game looks like we are there for a very long time Mr Deputy President."
The Government has described the extension of military airstrikes as a modest change in the operation. It has not at this stage committed further Australian military personnel.
Share
