Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The laws of this country actually apply to everyone. That is what happens when you live in a democracy. The member for Dickson might want to study that in his time outside the chamber. The laws of this country apply to everyone. The Migration Act is the law of this country. It requires the minister for immigration to deal with cases on a case-by-case basis. It requires the minister for immigration to look at the facts of each case. But, as the minister for immigration has said publicly and as I have just said in this parliament, in considering questions of character, the conduct engaged in by the individual can certainly be taken into account.

What the Leader of the Opposition is inviting me to do is not in accordance with the Migration Act. It is actually not in the best interests of holding to account the people who have engaged in this conduct. It could arguably give them some legal grounds to contest the decisions that the minister may or may not later make in relation to their visas. So, rather than engage in that kind of silly shenanigan in this parliament, we will continue to go through the process. The police will do a proper investigation; charges may be laid from that investigation; and the minister for immigration will consider visas case by case—as he is required to do by the law—taking into account questions of character. The kind of bad conduct we have seen on Christmas Island can be taken into account in that character determination.

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