Bishop Shane was guest speaker at the Refugees for Rural Australian’s Rally for Refugees on Palm Sunday. Addressing the crowd, he emphasised Australia’s long history of welcoming people seeking safety and the enormous contribution migrants and refugees have made to our communities. He said that, although recent government decisions give hope for many on temporary visas there is still much more that the Australian government could do and should do. 

The gathering at the Bendigo City Library Gardens was a celebration, a protest and an opportunity to stand in solidarity with refugees. Bishop Shane said it’s important to remember that events, such as the Palm Sunday Rallies held across Australia, do nudge policy direction in the right way. He said that every hand counts towards influencing a change in government policy. Although it might not seem like it, progress has been made and there have been quite a few achievements.  

Bishop spoke about the positive changes in refugee policy and their beneficial outcomes for the local community.  He spoke of the stellar example of the Bendigo Karen Community, the 2022 Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) a framework for refugee families to settle in Bendigo with support from RAR. So far, two Hazara Afghani families have settled in Bendigo on this programme and two more will soon arrive.

Bishop Shane said the Australian Government’s decision to provide some 19,000 refugees a pathway to permanent residency is commendable. It will give certainty to refugees who have been actively contributing to our community for many years; and will provide relief from the anxiety, separation and exacerbated trauma to which they have been subjected over that time.  

Nevertheless, Bishop Shane lamented that the Australian Policy of deterrence, by design, required that people suffer in order to be effective. Although there are only small numbers of people in detention in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, their isolation, uncertainty and misery is used as an exemplary deterrent. 

Bishop Shane said that detention needs to be an absolute last resort. People seeking asylum and people in detention need to be resettled in Australia; there needs to be an option to participate in the workforce, or receive income support while a visa is being processed; and we need to facilitate family reunions. 

“Australian government policy is rightly concerned about what is going on in our region, but as global citizens we can’t ignore the global refugee crisis – there are more than 10 million displaced people and 32 million refugees.  It is a massive problem, and it looks like it’s getting worse rather than better,” said Bishop Shane.  

In their recent election statement, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference wrote:

“Refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing persecution, violence or life-threatening poverty, and people who have been displaced by climate change, are our sisters and brothers … they have a moral claim on our assistance, whether they fit legal definitions of a refugee or not. We need a just, humane and timely system for assessing claims for asylum.”