Sky News PM Agenda with Laura Jayes
E&OE.
Journalist:
Welcome back to PM agenda, joining my now is Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. She joins me here in the studio. Some good news in what has been pretty bleak news over the past couple of days. The first family to arrive under that special humanitarian intake of 12,000, they will be settled in Perth. What kind of support is the government providing?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
The kind of support we provide is they’ll be allocated a case manager. So they’ve arrived and will have been met by our service provider allocated for that area and assisted in terms of accommodation, an initial package of assistance, the children get looked at – do they need to go to school, and assisted in terms of Medicare and Centrelink, a basic package in the home. Of course, there are our first that have come under the 12,000, so we’re very pleased about that and progressively I think we’re going to see more of them come from this moment. At this stage they’re probably settling in to somewhere in Perth. And we’re hopeful that the media and others will respect their privacy at least initially. But today, the father put out a statement thanking the Australian public for their support. They’re very happy to be here and he made a comment about the importance of education for his children. So in many ways, Laura, it’s like when my parents came out here in the 1950s it was to build a better life for themselves and their children. It’s the same instinct that drives people to want to come out here to Australia.
Journalist:
It was noted by Christian Porter as well, Senator, that this family has been through a lot. He didn’t exactly say how long the family spent in a refugee camp, or what camp form which they came. But on the psychological side, and the terror of war, what kind of facilities and assistance are offered to these families?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
There is assistance, and that’s why there is a case manager that looks at what are the needs of that family and how we can assist that family. In many ways, whilst there has been a lot of publicity surrounding this particular intake with the humanitarian entrants from the Syrian and Iraq conflict, this is what we do every day. So, at the moment of course we are settling this year 13,750 so we do this every day and that 13,750 is actually going up to over 18,000 in 2018-19. So, it’s a well organised process and it’s worked since 1945 – we’ve welcomed 7.5 million migrants to Australia, including 825,000 under our humanitarian programme. It’s a very well-honed process, if I can put it that way.
Journalist:
And we don’t know what religion this family is, because it’s at the privacy of the family. But, why Perth and will this family be settled into a community which has similar values, perhaps has a similar religion?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
What happens is we tend to look at who the people are and then we look at: Do they have family here in Australia? Do they have connections here in Australia? So therefore that’s how we determine if they obviously had family here in Australia it may have been a different location. In this case they don’t have family here in Australia and so that gives us the opportunity to look at different areas and also in terms of our humanitarian intake, to look at whether they go to a metropolitan area, or to a regional or rural area, or another capital city in Australia.
Journalist:
It’s often said Australia has the best resettlement programme in the world. I’ve spoken at length to Paris Aristotle about this and he even admits it’s not always smooth sailing. These families, these children, have been through the trauma of war and often have many problems. How do you deal with that, and in the context of us having this ongoing debate at the moment about young kids being radicalised and wanting to return to Syria, how do you look at that issue?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Look, it’s important, Laura, that this settlement is a good settlement – it’s important. Today Australia is one of the most culturally diverse yet socially cohesive nations on earth and that is as a result of all those millions of successful settlement journeys, and it is a settlement journey. And just like other communities that have come from difficult parts of the world the important thing is to settle, the important thing is to assist, but the other important thing is also employment – and that’s the focus of our settlement services, whilst they are good compared to the rest of the world, there’s always room for improvement. Our focus has really been on what I call the three “Es” – English, Education and Employment. In my father’s time we were a manufacturing based economy and so therefore it was a different situation, today we are a service based economy and so therefore English becomes very important. In the first instance, of course it will be the realisation that they are safe, and that’s really the first thing because when you’ve been in a camp like so many of our humanitarian entrants who have spent years in camps. There’s that initial stage where they are finally safe and then of course other things come with time from that. But, we wish them well, and a successful and fulfilling life in Australia.
Journalist:
On a separate issue as well, in light of the recent attacks we’ve seen a statement from the Grand Mufti, now this has been controversial. Some have complained that whilst yes, expressed sympathy for the victims, but there was also some victim blaming in that. What’s your view on the Mufti’s statement?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
We have to understand that there are different Muslim communities, and they are communities because they come from different spectrum of Islam, and they also come from different nationalities, so therefore it’s a very, very, diverse community and not always a united community. So, in that respect we’ve had comments that have been made by different people, different leaders across the spectrum.
Journalist:
So you’re saying the Grand Mufti is only one leader and he doesn’t represent the view of all Muslim people?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
The Grand Mufti is an elected position by the Australian National Imams Council. Having said that, I’m sure there are concerns that Australian Muslims have for various reasons, and some Muslims have concerns about a whole range of issues whether they be political, social or otherwise. I think though, under this instance, the Australian public in all its diversity would expect strong condemnation and we have seen strong condemnation from different people in the Muslim communities. Whilst the Grand Mufti has made certain comments, I must say that I would have appreciated seeing a stronger statement from him.
Journalist:
So, perhaps the wrong time to bring up Islamophobia and other issues in that statement?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
These issues are defiantly there, there is no doubt about it. I have spent a long time working amongst these communities and there are issues, and there’s no doubt, Laura, that there are some serious issues, no doubt there are issues pertinent to overseas conflicts that do have influence on what people think – this time it’s the Syria and Iraq conflict, in past times it’s been other conflicts. That is the reality; there is no doubt about that. But at this particular time, I think it’s really important that we focus on what has happened and perhaps leave aside those sorts of more controversial concerns, and let’s focus on certainly the condemnation which I know has been heartily felt across Australia against these acts.
Journalist:
And it comes back to this issue, and it’s almost become a bit of a buzz-phrase, community engagement. What is the government doing at the moment to engage with the Muslim community, and do you feel, whilst the Government is trying to engage with those it might feel are disenfranchised, are you getting any love the other way?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Well, Laura, it’s a complex issue. I’ve made certain comments in relation to the importance of the work that we are doing, in the national security spectrum, and the work that certainly Minister Keenan and the Attorney are doing in this space. There is also the work we do at the other end of the spectrum, the work that is done in my portfolio, social cohesion …
Journalist:
The soft diplomacy …
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Yes, the soft diplomacy part of it. But there is also, what I would term the soft end of countering violent extremism. And I think that is really where I’m hopeful certainly after the summit that we had in Canberra between the Commonwealth, States and Territories. We’re starting to see some movement there. Recently the New South Wales Government announced a package of measures which is very welcome – it’s actually concentrated in that area.
Journalist:
I guess what my question goes to, Senator, sorry to interrupt you, is there any warming to that idea, to that reach-out that the Government, at State and Federal level, is engaging in – is it being received?
Senator Fierravanti-Wells:
Laura, can I say, I have frequent discussions with leaders in the Muslim community and I have certainly been quite frank in my comments to them about the need for greater unity, because that’s a real problem, the lack of unity across Muslim Australia. But more importantly, the necessity to work with us. As I’ve repeatedly said, the Australian public has perceptions about the Islamic faith and I think it’s up to the Muslim communities, they will have to deal with that negative perception, regrettably, correctly or incorrectly that does exist in our community about their faith. Those corrections will have to come from the Muslim communities themselves. And it comes back to the point I’ve made repeatedly, we have to own the problem together and own the solution because I think that’s the only way we’re going to deal with these issues.
Journalist:
Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, thank-you so much for your time as always.