Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today on a range of amendments in the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill 2006, which reflects the government’s strong commitment to effective border control while ensuring that we continue to meet our international obligations. This bill is important to achieving that goal.

This is about ensuring that it is Australians and the government of Australia who decide who comes to Australia and who does not. This is about ensuring that Australia’s immigration program is managed in a manner that is in the best interests of all Australians, including new migrants, many of whom are refugees. It is about ensuring that we have a well-managed, coordinated immigration program covering skilled migrants, family migration and also those requiring refugee protection.

We cannot assume that all people coming by boat will arrive safely. Indeed, many will lose their lives and have done so. We also cannot assume that people arranging their transportation are not benefiting at the cost of the people seeking asylum, whether that be financial cost or even the loss of their lives or the loss of their families. While there may be genuine refugees, and many people are seeking to come to the nation of Australia because they are suffering hardship, we cannot assume that everybody who might or will seek to arrive by boat will be a genuine refugee. Some will be; others may have other motives for seeking to be in Australia.

The bill seeks to be inclusive. A key principle is to eliminate the distinction between unauthorised boat arrivals at an excised offshore place and those who reach the mainland, regardless of their nationality. That inclusivity is, for example, reflected in the proposed new arrangements for housing families, women and children during the processing and resettlement phase. The changes offer improved conditions for people in offshore processing centres. It is the government’s intention that women, children and families be housed in residential-style accommodation on Nauru and in other host countries. The government is committed to negotiating with host countries to establish similar arrangements. Other inclusive changes will see the minister having a discretionary power to issue visas to people taken to offshore processing centres, where the minister is satisfied that it is in the public’s best interest to do so.

In essence, the changes are saying that the people in offshore processing centres have an equal right to the same levels of consideration, access to services and protection as people arriving on the mainland. The proposed changes also improve the timeliness, accountability and protection measures of the offshore processing program. A three-month time frame will be implemented, where possible, for the processing of applications for refugee visas. In addition, there is a commitment that no asylum seeker will be left on Nauru indefinitely. Resettlement will be completed as quickly as possible without compromising security and other relevant factors. The Australian community is looking to the government to ensure that the security of this nation and the lives of those already living here are indeed protected. In the cases of greater complexity where all other options have been reasonably exhausted and the processing time has been prolonged, there is now an opportunity for the government to exercise its discretion to bring genuine refugees to Australia. Asylum seekers that are refused will be provided with a written explanation of the reasons.

Let us talk briefly about protection. What people in my community want to know, and what I want to ensure, is that people in vulnerable situations—people who have for whatever reason fled their own country and sought a better life elsewhere—have the right to a proper, fair and humanitarian resettlement system. One of the reasons that I support the changes is that a key principle in Australia’s refugee program, that children should only be detained as a measure of last resort, will also apply to offshore processing. A far-reaching aspect of this change is the government’s commitment to working with host countries to seek to uphold that principle wherever possible.

One of the ways of ensuring that people in offshore processing centres are treated fairly by the system is to ensure that all the essential principles of processing of people in detention centres in Australia are extended to all people arriving in boats regardless of their nationality. The provision of publicly funded migration agent assistance will be available to protection visa applicants in offshore processing centres. There will be discretionary power for the minister to issue a visa to people taken to offshore protection centres where the minister is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so, taking into account health and security issues.

The government has responded particularly well to the challenge of families in offshore protection centres. The special health, welfare and education needs of children remain foremost in the government’s considerations. A priority is to establish appropriate accommodation for these groups. With the changes in the bill, the minister will have the power to direct that Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs staff work with host governments to seek to put in place similar accommodation arrangements. Staff will be trained in child protection issues and the education needs of children will be appropriately addressed, including through their attendance at local schools. Staff with suitable child education skills will be employed. School-aged education within the offshore protection centres will be in both English and the children’s national language. These changes will make arrangements for managing the needs of families and children consistent with those that now apply in Australia.

One of the most effective strategies for best practice is to implement a reporting time line to ensure that the system is working well. I am very pleased to see that the bill’s amendments include reporting on a number of critical actions. An independent merits review panel will be established to report to the minister and subsequently the parliament. A time frame of three months for completion of the review will be implemented. The review will report on arrangements for review of refugee status determinations, including the qualifications of the reviewer, the number of claims for refugee status not determined within 90 days and the reasons for this, and the number of reviews not completed within 90 days of their commencement and the reasons for this. An independent review will be commissioned, two years after the commencement of the legislation, to report to the minister, who will table the report in both houses of parliament. The report will include alternative approaches or mechanisms in relation to the operation and effectiveness of the bill.

A significant initiative is the expansion of the powers of the Ombudsman to both investigate the actions of DIMA officers overseas in relation to refugee assessment processes in offshore processing centres and review the cases of people in the centres who have been residents of them for more than two years. Importantly, the government is committed to negotiating appropriate access arrangements with host countries to allow the Ombudsman to fulfil his role. Once the Ombudsman’s report has been received by the minister, the minister will report to parliament. Such an action provides oversight of the system and will address many of the concerns raised by the community. I understand the bill will include a sunset clause that has the effect of reverting the legislation to its current position. This clause will activate after five years.

In supporting the amendments, I note that there are other outcomes that the amendments achieve. Firstly, there is certainty. People in offshore detention centres will be cared for appropriately. Their visa assessment process will be dealt with quickly. They will be found a place to go. They will be assisted to resettle. They will receive all the help that other people who have made it to Australia receive. Their host country will be encouraged to adopt the same care and administrative principles and benchmarks that reflect the Australian program.

Secondly, there is fairness. Changes to the bill put our refugee laws in context. An article by Adrienne Millbank states:

Australia however, also provides a model—possibly world’s best practice—of generosity and inclusiveness to refugees, through its highly developed humanitarian migration and settlement assistance programs.

Australia’s refugee policy is based on four principles: recognition of Australia’s humanitarian commitment and responsibility to admit refugees for resettlement; acceptance that decisions regarding refugees will always remain with the government of Australia; that special assistance will often need to be provided for the movement of refugees in designated situations or for their resettlement in Australia; and that it may not be in the best interests of some refugees to settle here in Australia and their interests may be better served by resettlement elsewhere.

The Australian government makes an annual contribution to the UNHCR, which is the main body associated with the settlement of refugees. Australia has a generous humanitarian refugee program, settling between 12,000 and 13,000 refugees per year. These refugees—women, children and adolescents who have lost both parents—face many challenges. Many of them come from the Horn of Africa. Many from countries such as Sierra Leone and Sudan have viewed atrocities that it would be almost impossible for us to imagine. I have heard many of these stories personally. A significant number of refugees have settled in my electorate in Blacktown. I have been working with many of them for several years now and talking to them about the challenges they face—the challenges of settling into Australia. They have to adapt to and learn about a new culture and a new education system that is different. Many of them have been in refugee camps in Africa for up to 20 years. Some children have only known life in camps. Many of these families, individuals and adolescents have waited for more than a decade to come to Australia. They come here and they are so keen to integrate and to become strong contributors to Australia. They are so grateful that Australia has opened its doors and welcomed them.

The federal government has delivered and continues to deliver significant assistance to help them settle. For every person who arrives in an unauthorised way there is a genuine refugee who remains in a refugee camp waiting, with no alternative route to come to Australia except to go through the proper channels. I would like to add that, having over 100 different nationalities represented in my electorate, on a daily basis my staff and I deal with people from all over the world who are seeking to come to Australia. They come in and say that they have family, spouses, uncles or fathers who are waiting in refugee camps or in difficult situations in other countries or are seeking family reunion. They are waiting in queues. They say to me that they want people who are seeking refuge and seeking to migrate to this country to go through the proper channels.

The bill and amendments to the bill mirror the principles of Australia’s refugee policy. While the bill addresses the needs of unauthorised arrivals, the bill also makes it very clear that Australia is a country of last resort. We as a government need to consider all those people who do the right thing and are prepared to go through the correct channels. We also need to consider that it does take resources, time and effort—which we are more than willing to contribute—to ensure that these people settle. The balance of having them settle and the broader community adjust is something that we need to consider. Through a best practice model such as this bill and the amendments, Australia does ensure fairness to refugees and to other prospective migrants who apply through the migration pathway. This solution serves the national interest and would have the support of many in the Australian community.

This bill is a measured approach with the right balance of protection, accountability and administrative process applied to a complex issue. It strengthens Australia’s effective border controls while ensuring we continue to meet our international obligations. The bill marks an important milestone in the development of effective migration policy. It delivers for the Australian people in terms of genuine refugees, accountability in getting the system right and a strong position against people smugglers. It delivers for unauthorised arrivals by giving a transparent, reviewable process and clear outcomes. People in offshore processing centres will have access to resources and be treated as if they were being processed onshore, and there will be an ombudsman with the power to investigate any breaches of that process. Ultimately, this system is accountable to the Australian community through the parliament. I commend this bill to the House.

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