Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That all words after 'that' be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

(1) a Joint Select Committee on Australia's Immigration Detention Network be appointed to inquire into and report on:

(a) any reforms needed to the current Immigration Detention Network in Australia;

(b) the impact of length of detention and the appropriateness of facilities and services for asylum seekers;

(c) the resources, support and training for employees of Commonwealth agencies and/or their agents or contractors in performing their duties;

(d) the health, safety and wellbeing of asylum seekers, including specifically children, detained within the detention network;

(e) impact of detention on children and families, and viable alternatives;

(f) the effectiveness and long-term viability of outsourcing immigration detention centre contracts to private providers;

(g) the impact, effectiveness and cost of mandatory detention and any alternatives, including community release; and

(h) any other matters relevant to the above terms of reference;

(2) the committee consist of 11 members, 2 Members to be nominated by the Government Whip or Whips, 2 Senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, 2 Members to be nominated by the Opposition Whip or Whips, 2 Senators nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, 1 Member and 1 Senator nominated by the Australian Greens Whip, and 1 non-aligned member;

(3) participating members may be appointed to the committee. Participating members may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of a member of the committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee;

(4) every nomination of a member of the committee be notified in writing to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(5) the members of the committee hold office as a joint select committee until the House of Representatives is dissolved or expires by effluxion of time, whichever is the earlier;

(6) the committee shall elect a chair and deputy chair;

(7) the deputy chair shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee, and at any time when the chair and deputy chair are not present at a meeting of the committee the members present shall elect another member to act as chair at that meeting;

(8) in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote;

(9) 3 members of the committee constitute a quorum of the committee provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include 1 Government member of either House and 1 non-Government member of either House;

(10) the committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 3 or more of its members and to refer to any subcommittee any matter which the committee is empowered to examine;

(11) the committee appoint the chair of each subcommittee who shall have a casting vote only;

(12) at any time when the chair of a subcommittee is not present at a meeting of the subcommittee the members of the subcommittee present shall elect another member of that subcommittee to act as chair at that meeting;

(13) 2 members of a subcommittee constitute the quorum of that subcommittee;

(14) members of the committee who are not members of a subcommittee may participate in the proceedings of that subcommittee but shall not vote, move any motion or be counted for the purpose of a quorum;

(15) the committee or any subcommittee have power to call for witnesses to attend and for documents to be produced;

(16) the committee or any subcommittee may conduct proceedings at any place it sees fit;

(17) the committee or any subcommittee have power to adjourn from time to time and to sit during any adjournment of the House of Representatives and the Senate;

(18) the committee may report to both Houses of Parliament from time to time and that it present its final report no later than 7 October 2011;

(19) the provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders;

(20) a message be sent to the Senate acquainting it of this resolution and requesting that it concur and take action accordingly

There are two reasons for my amendment. The first is that we need a broad inquiry into the state of detention in Australia, and that needs to be an inquiry that focuses on the causes, not just the symptoms. To focus only on the riots would be to focus on the symptoms, where people who have been locked up indefinitely for a long period of time are expressing their frustration. What we need to examine is why it is that mandatory detention has failed. Secondly, it ought to be a joint committee. The terms of the amendment I have moved allow for participation of senators as well. It is my strong hope that a real inquiry into mandatory detention in Australia, participated in by members of both houses of parliament, might start to put Australia on the path to a more humane immigration future.

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