Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I begin by thanking members for their contributions to the debate on the Migration Amendment (Character Cancellation Consequential Provisions) Bill 2016. I emphasise to the House that this bill is a technical bill that will ensure that the character and cancellation provisions in the Migration Act operate effectively and as intended following amendments made in December 2014 by the Migration Amendment Act 2014. It is a bill that does not go beyond the intention of the substantive amendments made by the character act passed by parliament in 2014. In relation to the substantive amendments made by the 2014 act, a key amendment made by the act was the introduction of mandatory visa cancellation for noncitizens in jail serving a full-time custodial sentence of imprisonment and where that sentence is for at least 12 months imprisonment or they have been found guilty of a sexually based offence involving a child. The purpose of those mandatory cancellation amendments was to quickly and effectively capture noncitizens who pose a risk to the Australian community by cancelling their visas and considering their case while they are still serving a term of imprisonment. To date the vast majority of noncitizens who have had their visa cancelled under the mandatory cancellation power are repeat offenders with multiple criminal convictions in Australia or have committed serious or violent offences.

The amendments made by this bill will ensure that the mandatory cancellation related powers introduced by the 2014 act are given their full effect and operate coherently with the existing character cancellation powers in the Migration Act. These are important consequential amendments required to ensure that the noncitizens who pose a risk to the community are dealt with effectively, efficiently and comprehensively. For those reasons I commend the bill to the House.

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