Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Migration Amendment (Character Cancellation Consequential Provisions) Bill 2016. As you would know, Acting Deputy Speaker Goodenough, from the previous member's statement, a number of amendments in this bill give full effect to the substance of amendments made by the Migration Amendment (Character and General Visa Cancellation) Bill 2014.

The Migration Amendment (Character and General Visa Cancellation) Bill 2014 significantly strengthened the character and general visa cancellation provisions in the Migration Act to ensure that non-citizens who commit crimes in Australia, who pose a risk to the Australian community or who represent an integrity concern are appropriately considered for visa refusal or cancellation. I think any reasonable Australian would consider this to be very fair. If there are people in this country who are here on a visa and involved in crimes that are offensive to us, as a country, then the right to refuse or cancel their visa is very warranted.

The Migration Amendment (Character Cancellation Consequential Provisions) Bill 2016 has also introduced mandatory cancellation of visas held by non-citizens in prison who do not pass certain limbs of the character test; a relocation power, specifically for mandatory cancellation decisions; and, importantly, a new power for the minister to personally set aside, in the national interest, a decision made by his or her delegate or the AAT to revoke a mandatory visa cancellation decision.

The consequential amendments set out in this bill will ensure that the mandatory cancellation related powers are reflected consistently—this is important—and comprehensively throughout the Migration Act, according to the original intent of the changes made in late 2014. This will ensure that the government has the capability to proactively and robustly address character and integrity concerns. In particular, the bill will ensure that confidential information critical to decision making under the new character cancellation provisions is given the same level of protection that is currently afforded to confidential information relating to other character provisions in the Migration Act. The bill will also give full effect to the policy of mandatory cancellation by putting, beyond doubt, that, a non-citizen who is a subject of a mandatory character cancellation decision is available for removal from Australia if they do not seek revocation within the relevant time period or are unsuccessful in having their visa reinstated. Further, the bill seeks to strengthen our ability to identify non-citizens suspected of being of character concern by aligning the definition of 'character concern' in the act with the strengthened character test in section 501. Again, consistent with the original intent of the Migration Amendment (Character and General Visa Cancellation) Bill 2014, this will facilitate the lawful disclosure of non-citizens identifying information where a non-citizen is suspected of being of character concern.

This bill demonstrates this government's clear and continuing commitment to ensuring that non-citizens who pose a risk to the Australian community are dealt with effectively, efficiently and comprehensively. I commend this bill to the House.

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