Larissa Waters Responds

Dear Gameli,

As I said to a recent forum hosted by the Ethnic Communities Council of Qld,
I think recent comments by Kevin Andrews, Pauline Hanson and Gary Hardgraves
are racist and ignore the real facts, which show very low levels of crime in
the Sudanese community.

I have publicly apologised to Sudanese Australians on behalf of Kevin
Andrews. The 6,000 Sudanese Australians in Queensland are all welcome here,
along with their families. I hope they can forgive us for individuals like
Pauline Hanson and Kevin Andrews, who do not represent the bulk of warm,
generous Australians.

On more formal policy matters, The Greens do not support the use of
'integration' concerns as a reason to adjust immigration quotas. It is not a
relevant criteria when assessing humanitarian refugees. Increased support
services for newly arrived refugees is the obvious answer to any settlement
problems not a knee jerk, politically suspect decision to ban African
refugees.

A full copy of the speech I gave at the ECCQ event is attached for your
information.

Kind regards, and thanks for seeking my comment,
Larissa

Larissa Waters

B.Sc (Envt), LLB (Hons), Grad Dip (LP), Solicitor

Greens Lead Senate Candidate for Queensland

North Brisbane Branch Convenor

www.larissawaters.net


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