Matt Williams (Hindmarsh, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Like my colleague, the member for Cowan, observed, the compassionate approach of this government is something to be recognised. I want to reflect on the words of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection yesterday in the House when he talked about this recent visit to Jordan and Lebanon. He had the opportunity to meet with many people in a camp where there were some 80,000 people, including 40,000 children. He said it was a real eye-opening and sobering experience. He mentioned that he talked to the UN officials there, obviously, about the need for increased humanitarian assistance and also the fact that the situation in Syria is deteriorating and will continue to deteriorate as they enter the colder winter months in the northern hemisphere.

We know that this government has come up with a sensible response that the Australian people have acknowledged is appropriate in these challenging times, and that consists of not just a dollar figure of some $44 million but also assistance to more than 200,000 refugees. They are also providing, importantly, 12,000 places to the Syrian and Iraqi refugee program. Already this November we have had more than 2,200 people being assisted with initial assessments, and they will be arriving in Australia later this year. It was great to hear the minister had already provided families with their immigration cards and travel documents and hopefully those people in particular will be arriving before Christmas. In effect this has resulted in an increase, on a per capita basis, to the highest number of settlements under the refugee and humanitarian program compared to any other country in the world—quite a significant outcome. The number of humanitarian and refugee places will increase from 13,750 to 25,750 with an additional 12,000 places. This is something that we should all be very proud of and, as I said, it is a compassionate response.

This leads me on to talk briefly about the migration and maritime powers amendment bill. My colleagues have covered the technical details of this bill in some detail, so I will just stick to the key points. This bill contains a number of amendments to the Migration Act and a separate amendment to the Maritime Powers Act. These amendments will strengthen and clarify the legal frameworks in those acts, ensuring they will be interpreted consistently with a regional policy intention and operate effectively as intended. Specifically, the bill will ensure that when an unlawful noncitizen is in the process of being removed to another country and before they enter the other country the person is returned to Australia, then that person has a lawful basis to return to Australia without a visa. The bill will ensure that when such a person does return to Australia without a visa, the visa application bars in sections of the Migration Act will continue to apply as if that person never left Australia. The bill will make a technical amendment to ensure that the prohibition against the making of further protection visa applications in section 48A of the Migration Act operates as intended under policy. Importantly, the bill will ensure that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal can review certain character or security based decisions to refuse to grant a protection visa to fast-track an applicant.

Consistent with the rest of this bill, these items demonstrate this government's clear and continuing commitment to ensuring that noncitizens who pose a risk to the Australian community are dealt with effectively, efficiently and comprehensively. It complements our successful policy of securing our borders. We have seen in Europe over recent months the tragic circumstances facing that continent and the need for a better resolution than what currently exists. Importantly, on our own borders there have been fewer deaths at sea. The Australian public recognises that we have acted appropriately and in the best interests of mankind and of those people coming to Australia. With that, I commend the bill to the House.

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