There are fears that hundreds of refugees living in community detention could be left homeless, after the Federal Government cut housing and income support. We have written to the NSW Premier, urging her to raise concerns with the Federal Government, as it will be NSW health, housing and community support agencies who will be left to deal with the social and economic impacts of this decision.

The Wear the Change Fundraiser, organised by The Social Outfit in Newtown, raised funds for their non-profit community programs which support refugee and migrant women with training, education and employment pathways in the fashion industry.

Jenny Leong MP spoke to the Parliament to alert them to the fact it is Refugee Week and thanked the organisations working to support refugees and asylum seekers in NSW.

[UPDATE 19 May 2020]

The Sydney Alliance are calling on the NSW Government to provide urgent financial support for those people in NSW not covered by JobKeeper and JobSeeker. I responded to their letter on behalf of the NSW Greens as the Greens Spokesperson for Multiculturalism and you can find our response here.

[UPDATE 15 April 2020]

We are pleased to support the #unityoverfear campaign - please take a minute to do the same. The anti-chinese and anti-asian narratives and actions are causing many people, including myself, real harm at this time. Racism is NEVER okay.

[UPDATE 31 MARCH, 2020]

Today I wrote to the NSW Premier on behalf of a large cohort of people who live in the electorate of Newtown, our city and NSW, who are currently facing extremely difficult circumstances and have become very vulnerable as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can download the full letter here.

Our office has been contacted by a significant number of non-citizens who do not have any resources to support themselves and are not able to access the measures put in place for citizens or those offered yesterday by the federal government to category 444 visa holders.

As the NSW Greens Multicultural spokesperson, I feel very strongly that to ensure a cohesive society where everyone is treated equally and is able to live free from discrimination and racism, we need to ensure that wherever possible all people are able to access basic needs, services and supports without regard to their citizenship status. This is particularly important during times of crisis, and even more so during this current pandemic.

Statement in Parliament encouraging Labor to adopt a more humane approach to refugees, and commending young Labor activists who passed a motion calling on Labor Left members of Parliament to respond to and reflect human rights concerns. 

Today we acknowledged the incredible work by Parliament on King supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the Newtown electorate. 

We have a proud history of welcoming people to our country and helping those who are in need.

People seeking asylum have been an asset to Australia for generations and they can help make our country stronger than it has ever been.  

We are a generous and caring nation. We can welcome people seeking asylum who will help build our communities and contribute to our economy. We will work here in NSW and with our colleagues in the federal parliament to:

• Welcome refugees into our community.
• Creating a safe way for people to seek asylum in Australia, giving them a better option than a boat journey.
• Save $2.9 billion by shutting the detention camps on Manus Island and Nauru and abolishing the practice of offshore detention.
• Give $500 million to assessment and support organisations in our region to speed up the process and give people access to education and work rights while they wait. The Greens want to abolish temporary protection visas and provide permanent protection to people seeking safety.
• Introduce a 30 day time limit for people held in on-shore immigration detention. This is ample time to conduct the necessary checks and to assess their claims for asylum.
• Increase the number of people Australia helps from 13,750 to 50,000 per year; fairly and efficiently assess people’s refugee claims where they are waiting and establish a Skilled Refugee visa program for 10,000 people. 

Australia has led an ambitious and bold regional solution like this in the past. After the Vietnam War, and under the leadership of former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, we resettled tens of thousands of Vietnamese people who went on to strengthen the Australian community and economy. We can do it again. We can treat people the way we would want to be treated while saving lives in our region and enriching our nation.

Today we asked the Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian if Serco, the company that operates Australia's inhumane refugee detention centers, will be prevented from profiting from public housing in NSW. 

Media Release – 17 September 2015

Today the Daily Telegraph published sensationalist coverage of the emergency resettlement of Syrian refugees in Sydney. Greens Member for Newtown and Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Leong said:

“Australians have responded with compassion to the heart wrenching images of Syrian refugees left with nothing after escaping war and destruction in their country. We have shown that we are ready to welcome refugees and offer safety to some of the 4 million Syrian men, women and children now displaced by the conflict.

“I am dismayed by the Daily Telegraph’s sensationalist coverage of the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Sydney.

Today we supported a motion in Parliament acknowledging the contribution made to New South Wales by those who have sought asylum, refugees, and other immigrants.