Over the past week or so with thousands of Syrian refugees on the move in Europe and the media coverage of the drowning of little Aylan Kurdi in Turkey, there has been a huge reaction to the refugee crisis in Syria throughout the world.

On Wednesday 9 September the Prime Minister announced that Australia would take an extra 12,000 Syrian refugees on top of the annual intake from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) registered camps in countries that border Syria. This is higher than our ally the US, with Barrack Obama recently pledging the US to take an extra 10,000 Syrian refugees.

This week CEFA is going to look into the processes that are involved in making such Government decisions.

It all happened very quickly

As late as last weekend the Government was steadfast in their pledge to not accept any extra refugees into Australia. However as members of the community started contacting their MP’s about the issue, the Parliament began to reflect the community sentiment.

On Tuesday 8 September Independent MP Andrew Wilkie rose in Parliament to move a motion calling on the Federal Government to give safe refuge to 30,000 Syrians and to permanently double Australia’s refugee humanitarian intake. He spoke for almost ten minutes asking the Government to act immediately.

The Leader of the House Christopher Pyne replied outlining the process that the Government was undertaking in response to the crisis:

The effects of the media over the last couple of days could not but have had a major impact on every single Australian—every right-thinking Australian—and that is why the Government has been going through the methodical, sensible process of Government that you would expect over the last 24 or 48 hours. At the moment, our Minister for Immigration and Border Protection is on his way home from Geneva, where he has been meeting with the appropriate people in the UNHCR. He will then give a report to the National Security Committee, to the Cabinet, and decisions will be made…

The Cabinet then met on Tuesday evening and discussed the issue.

Cabinet processes

While the Executive Government has a whole chapter in the Constitution, Cabinet is not mentioned. It is not defined in legislation, but exists in our system of Government by convention. The Cabinet, or council of senior Ministers, meet in private once a week to freely discuss Government policy and participate in collective decision making.

In the foreword to the latest edition of the Cabinet Handbook the Prime Minister states:

The Cabinet makes decisions and ratifies them. It is the principal decision making body in a Westminster system of Government.

The Australian people have been the beneficiaries of a system that encourages robust discussion, collective decision making and trust between colleagues. It is a system that has stood the test of time….

…A strong Cabinet, adhering to the processes that have evolved since Federation is, the foundation for durable, reliable and wise decision making.

How did the Cabinet decide to take Syrian refugees?

While the Cabinet secretariat keeps records of all Cabinet meetings, what happens in Cabinet is kept secret for 20 years (until 2010 it used to be 30 years). This allows each Cabinet member the ability to speak freely about any issue. Once the Cabinet makes a decision all Ministers are expected to support the decision publicly in Cabinet solidarity.

After the 20 year period, the Cabinet files are released by the National Archives of Australia (NAA). Some are available online, while other are able to be viewed by visiting NAA in person.

So, while we cannot know how the current Cabinet made their decision, what we can look at is how historical refugee immigration decisions were made by searching past Cabinet papers.

Since the end of World War II, we have resettled over 750,000 refugees. Big influxes of refugees during world crises include the Menzies Government, who in 1949 resettled 75,486 displaced persons sponsored by the International Refugee Organization.

The 1979 Fraser Government Cabinet papers show discussion about the 50,000 people that were fleeing Vietnam per month and the best course of action for Australia to take. Some 2,000 people had arrived from Vietnam by boat in the previous few years and in order to prevent further boat arrivals the Cabinet decided to increase the Indo-China refugee intake to 14,400 per year. They also increased funding to the UN to build a holding centre. In total, the Fraser Government resettled some 70,000 Vietnamese refugees.

After the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 Prime Minister Bob Hawke made an announcement without consulting Cabinet that Australia would extend temporary entry permits for Chinese nationals in Australia. It took a month before a submission was presented in Cabinet, the safety of the Chinese students was discussed and eventually 42,000 people were granted permanent residency. Cabinet Minister at the time John Dawkins has stated:

A lot of these people were very capable bright students and we thought if they wanted to stay, they could make a great contribution to the country, as many of them have.

As Andrew Wilkie stated in his motion on Tuesday among the refugees we have agreed to welcome will be “Syrian doctors, tradesmen, engineers, architects, nurses and social workers and any number of people who will undoubtedly add to this country's very rich multiculturalism”.

The sign of a strong democracy

While many of us are hesitant to contact our local member, we should feel comfortable letting them know our thoughts about important policy decisions. In a strong democracy, our local member takes note of our comments and those of others in the community. Our MP is then able to pass the community sentiment onto others, including Cabinet Ministers while in Parliament. We should commend the Cabinet for making a decision that the Australian community was calling for.

The current Cabinet

• The Hon Tony Abbott MP -Prime Minister
• The Hon Warren Truss MP - Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development
• The Hon Julie Bishop MP - Minister for Foreign Affairs
• Senator the Hon Eric Abetz - Minister for Employment, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Public Service
• Senator the Hon George Brandis QC - Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts
• The Hon Joe Hockey MP - Treasurer
• The Hon Barnaby Joyce MP - Minister for Agriculture
• The Hon Christopher Pyne MP - Minister for Education and Training
• Senator the Hon Nigel Scullion - Minister for Indigenous Affairs
• The Hon Ian Macfarlane MP - Minister for Industry and Science
• The Hon Kevin Andrews MP - Minister for Defence
• The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP - Minister for Communications
• The Hon Peter Dutton MP - Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
• The Hon Bruce Billson MP - Minister for Small Business
• The Hon Andrew Robb AO MP - Minister for Trade and Investment
• The Hon Greg Hunt MP - Minister for the Environment
• The Hon Scott Morrison MP - Minister for Social Services
• Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann - Minister for Finance
• The Hon Sussan Ley MP - Minister for Health, Minister for Sport

Interesting facts brought to you by the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House

• 1924 - First Cabinet meeting in Canberra
  Prime Minister Stanley Bruce holds the first federal Cabinet meeting in the national capital, at Yarralumla House. In 1931, at the depth of the Great Depression, Cabinet begins meeting in the federal Parliament building (now Old Parliament House). The location of Cabinet within the Parliament signifies the growing power of the Executive branch of Government over the elected Parliament during the 20th century.
• 1975 - First female Cabinet Minister
  Senator Margaret Guilfoyle is the first woman to be appointed to a Cabinet portfolio following her appointment as Minister for Education in the first Fraser Government in 1975 and subsequently as Minister for Social Security. In 1979 she is appointed to the Order of the British Empire (Dame Commander) for her services to public and Parliamentary life, and in 1980 she is appointed Finance Minister — the first female Member of Parliament in Australia to hold a major economic portfolio.

Photo of Syrian refugees walking through Hungary attributed to Freedom House

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