‘Scotty, give’ em a chance ‘: Sonny Bill Williams’ plea to Australian over New Zealand refugee settlement

Double Rugby World Cup winner and NRL star Sonny Bill Williams has asked Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to send asylum seekers to detention centers off the coast of New Zealand.

On Wednesday, Williams urged the Australian government to “give them a fair chance” and accept New Zealand’s offer to host the refugees located on Nauru and Manus Island.

After appearing at the House of Parliament on Wednesday with former Socceroo Craig Foster, Williams said: “Brother Scotty just needs to sign that document and whoever he is, we just have to do it.

“These people are human like us. I feel like we just need to have a human perspective and I think like any Australian of goodwill we just need to give them a chance.

“Scotty, just give them a chance.”

Williams submitted an Amnesty International petition with 65,000 signatures demanding the government remove asylum seekers from the islands.

“We have come to Canberra to ask the Australian government to finally accept New Zealand’s offer to resettle 150 refugees a year,” Foster said.

“There are still just under 300 people stranded in PNG and Nauru, and as the agreement with the United States is nearing its end, it is more urgent than ever to get these refugees to safety as soon as possible.”

Williams compared the refugee situation to how people have struggled to cope with the Covid-19 quarantine conditions imposed around the world.

“We were on the warpath to quarantine for two weeks, imagine doing it for over seven years, but with no end in sight.

“There is a solution: New Zealand wants to take them … we just need the people in power to say yes and let them go,” he said in a video on Twitter with Foster.

“New Zealand has a proud history of resettlement. Since World War II it has resettled more than 35,000 refugees. This is not about politics, it is about a few hundred refugees who have suffered for too long and need a solution. New Zealand has offered to provide that solution, Australia should agree, “Williams said.