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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-29 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (15:24): Coronavirus is non-discriminative. The stark reality is that, until a prevention or cure is found, our community will be impacted physically, socially and financially. During disaster situations like this pandemic, vulnerable groups are again affected disproportionately to the rest of the community. Those who are recent migrants and on temporary visas often fall into this category.

Over the past week, I have had the pleasure of talking to several staff members from the South Australian Red Cross team. Like many other charity organisations across Australia, Red Cross has had to act quickly to adjust its existing programs to fit social distancing measures and create new emergency relief to a wave of people who have become vulnerable. Red Cross say they were inundated with calls for help as soon as restrictions came into place and workplaces started to shut down.

International students and temporary visa card holders were a majority in the group asking for assistance. Not being covered by federal government support and being without any work has left millions of people vulnerable. Although small, I recognise that the South Australian government has rolled out a support package for international students studying at the three major South Australian universities.

However, the state and federal governments have failed to recognise that people on temporary working visas are a part of our community and deserve protections. Their position on the issue remains that they should go home. These ridiculous statements by the Prime Minister have many of these workers feeling abandoned by the Australian government.

Organisations such as Red Cross and Foodbank are again heading the call in times of emergency and filling the gaps of government responsibility. Even small businesses have felt the need to step up and help those in trouble. One example of this is Shobosho. With the support of OzHarvest and Foodbank, the Adelaide restaurant has been able to make meals six days a week for Adelaide's homeless and vulnerable. Adam Liston, head chef of Shobosho, expressed that the program has been a lifeline for his co-workers, to help with the mental health and wellbeing of staff during this time.

Stories similar to this continue to emerge throughout the hospitality industry. A large proportion of the 840,000 temporary visa holders with working rights in Australia are employed in the hospitality and tourism industries, both of which, in terms of industries, have mostly closed, leaving these workers with no income.

If this government is prepared to assist international students, it only seems right that they help those on temporary visa cards. Both Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory have launched support packages for temporary visa holders. Although these payments are significantly smaller than any federal funding, the act itself signifies the importance of the issue. It should not be up to small businesses and community organisations to bear the full brunt of coronavirus. Government, both state and federal, has a responsibility to assist everyone living in Australia affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

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