The Government\u2019s unfulfilled promises to increase Australia\u2019s humanitarian intake and give refugees safety in our region were on stark display today as those recommendations were voted down by the major parties in the Senate, said the Australian Greens.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the rush of getting the \u2018Gillard Pacific Solution\u201d legislation through Parliament last week, the government is dragging its feet to the point of standstill when it comes to other critical humanitarian measures identified by the Houston Panel\u201d said Greens immigration spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young today.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy motion called on the Government to immediately implement key Houston Panel recommendations to raise the humanitarian quota to 20,000 and advise Parliament the timeframes on the rest, but it was voted down by both old parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that the Government\u2019s full support for the Houston Panel\u2019s recommendations was nothing but hollow words.<\/p>\n
“Mr Paris Aristotle reiterated today that unless the swift action is taken to increase humanitarian intake to 20,000 and funding is increased to assist asylum seekers in our region, offshore processing will fail even the aspirations of the Houston Panel \u2013 yet the government seems to be ignoring his advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is evident that the Government has no intention of implementing the Houston Panel\u2019s recommendations that relate directly to saving refugees\u2019 lives, but rather are intent on punishing vulnerable people by shipping them off indefinitely to the island prisons of Nauru and Manus Island.<\/p>\n
Media contact: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Ali Neyle or Kelly Farrow 0427 604 760<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TEXT OF NOTICE OF MOTION<\/strong><\/p>\n 20 August 2012<\/p>\n Senator Sarah Hanson-Young<\/p>\n I give notice that on the next day of sitting I shall move that the Senate \u2013<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Calls on the Government to immediately increase the Humanitarian Program to 20,000 as recommended by the Houston Report on Asylum Seekers in Recommendation 2.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Calls on the Government to immediately make available an additional $70 million to fund programs in support of a regional framework for improved protections, registration, processing, integration, resettlement and returns as per Recommendation 3; and<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Calls for immediate disclosure of the government\u2019s implementation timeframe for the remaining Houston Panel recommendations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government\u2019s unfulfilled promises to increase Australia\u2019s humanitarian intake and give refugees safety in our region were on stark display today as those recommendations were voted down by the major parties in the Senate, said the Australian Greens. \u201cDespite the rush of getting the \u2018Gillard Pacific Solution\u201d legislation through Parliament last week, the government is dragging its feet to the point of standstill when it comes to other critical humanitarian measures identified by the Houston Panel\u201d said Greens immigration spokesperson…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[73,17,34],"class_list":["post-811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archived-press-releases","tag-asylum-seekers","tag-greens","tag-senator-sarah-hanson-young","post-has-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\n