Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) to (40) together:

(1) Clause 3, page 2 (lines 14 to 17), omit the paragraph beginning "The Minister may make", substitute:

An issuing authority, on application by the Minister, may make an order (called a temporary exclusion order) that prevents a person from entering Australia for a specified period, which may be up to 2 years. An order cannot be made unless certain criteria are met, and it can be revoked.

(2) Clause 3, page 2 (lines 18 to 22), omit the paragraph beginning "The Minister must refer".

(3) Clause 3, page 3 (lines 6 and 7), omit "and is satisfied of specified matters", substitute ", is satisfied of specified matters and an issuing authority has approved the conditions".

(4) Clause 4, page 3 (after line 19), after the definition of Australian travel document, insert:

interim temporary exclusion order means an order made under subsection 12A(1).

issuing authority means a person appointed under section 23.

(5) Clause 4, page 3 (line 23), omit the definition of reviewing authority.

(6) Clause 4, page 3 (line 25), omit "subsection 10(1)", substitute "subsection 10(2)".

(7) Clause 8, page 5 (line 6), before "A person", insert "(1)".

(8) Clause 8, page 5 (after line 10), at the end of the clause, add:

(2) The fault element for paragraph (1) (a) is knowledge.

(9) Heading to clause 10, page 6 (line 4), omit "Making", substitute "Applying for, and making,".

(10) Clause 10, page 6 (line 5) to page 7 (line 21), omit subclauses 10(1) to (5), substitute:

(1) The Minister may apply to an issuing authority for a temporary exclusion order in relation to a person only if:

(a) subsection (3) applies in relation to the person; and

(b) the Minister meets the requirements of subsections (4), (5) and (5A).

(2) An issuing authority may make a temporary exclusion order in relation to a person only if:

(a) subsection (3) applies in relation to the person; and

(b) the issuing authority meets the requirements of subsections (4), (5) and (5A).

(3) This subsection applies to a person if:

(a) the person is located outside Australia; and

(b) the person is an Australian citizen; and

(c) the person is at least 14 years of age; and

(d) a return permit is not in force in relation to the person.

(4) The Minister or issuing authority meets the requirements of this subsection if the Minister or issuing authority is satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that making the order would substantially assist in one or more of the following:

(a) preventing a terrorist act;

(b) preventing training from being provided to, received from or participated in with a listed terrorist organisation;

(c) preventing the provision of support for, or the facilitation of, a terrorist act;

(d) preventing the provision of support or resources to an organisation that would help the organisation engage in an activity described in paragraph (a) of the definition of terrorist organisation in subsection 102.1(1) of the Criminal Code.

(5) The Minister or issuing authority meets the requirements of this subsection if the Minister or issuing authority is satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that the person has:

(a) committed, prepared to commit or instigated a terrorist act; or

(b) facilitated the commission, preparation or instigation of a terrorist act; or

(c) given encouragement to the commission, preparation or instigation of a terrorist act; or

(d) given support or assistance to individuals who are known or believed by the person to be involved in conduct falling within paragraph (5) (a).

(5A) The Minister or issuing authority meets the requirements of this subsection if the Minister or issuing authority, before applying for, or making, a temporary exclusion order in relation to a person, has regard to the following:

(a) in a case where the person is 14 to 17 years of age:

  (i) the protection of the community as the paramount consideration; and

  (ii) the best interests of the person as a primary consideration;

(b) in every case:

  (i) whether the person has a lawful right to remain, or to enter and remain, in a country other than Australia during that period;

  (ii) if the person has no lawful right to remain, or to enter and remain, in a country other than Australia during that period—the likelihood of the person being detained, mistreated or harmed if the person cannot enter Australia until the end of that period.

(5B) In determining what is in the best interests of a person for the purposes of subparagraph (5A) (a) (ii), the Minister or issuing authority must take into account the following matters:

(a) the age, maturity, sex and background (including lifestyle, culture and traditions) of the person;

(b) the physical and mental health of the person;

(c) the benefit to the person of having a meaningful relationship with his or her family and friends;

(d) the right of the person to receive an education;

(e) the right of the person to practise his or her religion;

(f) any other matter the Minister or issuing authority considers relevant.

(11) Clause 10, page 7 (line 22), omit "the Minister", substitute "the issuing authority".

(12) Clause 10, page 8 (lines 9 and 10), omit paragraph 10(6) (i), substitute:

(i) state the judicial review rights in relation to the decision to make the order and any related return permit; and

(j) state the grounds for deciding that the criteria in subsection (2) for the making of the order have been met (excluding any information that is likely to prejudice national security).

(13) Clause 10, page 8 (lines 14 and 15), omit "the Minister must cause such steps to be taken as are, in the opinion of the Minister,", substitute "the issuing authority must provide a copy of the order to the Minister and the Minister must cause such steps to be taken as are".

(14) Page 8 (after line 21), after clause 10, insert:

10A Contents of applications for a temporary exclusion order

An application by the Minister under subsection 10(1) for a temporary exclusion order in relation to a person must:

(a) be made either:

  (i) in writing (other than writing by means of an electronic communication); or

  (ii) if the Minister considers it necessary because of urgent circumstances, orally in person or by telephone, or by fax, email or other electronic means of communication; and

(b) set out the facts and other grounds on which the Minister considers the temporary exclusion order should be made; and

(c) specify the period for which the temporary exclusion order should remain in force and set out the facts and other grounds on which the Minister considers that the order should remain in force for that period; and

(d) set out the information that the Minister has about the person's age; and

(e) set out the outcomes and particulars of all previous applications for temporary exclusion orders made in relation to the person; and

(f) set out the outcomes and particulars of all previous applications for variations of temporary exclusion orders made in relation to the person; and

(g) set out the outcomes of all previous applications for revocations of temporary exclusion orders made in relation to the person; and

(h) set out any other matter the Minister considers relevant.

(15) Clause 11, page 8 (line 23), after "The Minister", insert "or an issuing authority".

(16) Clause 11, page 8 (line 25), after "the Minister's", insert "or the issuing authority's".

(17) Clause 11, page 8 (after line 29), after subclause 11(2), insert:

(2A) If an issuing authority revokes a temporary exclusion order under subsection (1), the issuing authority must notify the Minister as soon as practicable after revoking the order.

(18) Clause 11, page 8 (line 31) to page 9 (line 1), omit "the Minister must cause such steps to be taken as are, in the opinion of the Minister,", substitute "or being notified of the revocation of a temporary exclusion order under subsection (2A), the Minister must cause such steps to be taken as are".

(19) Clause 11, page 9 (line 9), after "the Minister", insert "or issuing authority".

(20) Clause 12, page 9 (after line 19), after subclause 12(1), insert:

(1A) As soon as practicable after an application is made under subsection (1), the Minister or Department must provide a copy of the application to the issuing authority who made the temporary exclusion order, or if the issuing authority is unavailable, another issuing authority.

(1B) If the Minister or Department gives a copy of the application to another issuing authority, the Minister or Department must cause such steps to be taken as are necessary to ensure that the other issuing authority has all the information that the issuing authority who issued the temporary exclusion order had when the order was issued.

(21) Page 10 (after line 15), after clause 12, insert:

12A Interim temporary exclusion orders

(1) If the Minister is satisfied that, because of urgent circumstances, it is necessary that a temporary exclusion order in relation to a person comes into force immediately, the Minister may make an order (an interim temporary exclusion order) under this subsection.

(2) The Minister must not make an interim temporary exclusion order under subsection (1) in relation to a person unless:

(a) subsection 10(3) applies in relation to the person; and

(b) the Minister meets the requirements of subsections 10(4), (5) and (5A).

(3) If the Minister makes an interim temporary exclusion order, the Minister must, as soon as practicable, apply for a temporary exclusion order in relation to the person under subsection 10(1).

(4) For the purposes of applying the other provisions of this Act in relation to an interim temporary exclusion order until a decision is made on the related application under subsection (3) of this section:

(a) the interim temporary exclusion order is taken to be a temporary exclusion order made under subsection 10(2); and

(b) any reference to an issuing authority is taken to be a reference to the Minister.

(22) Clause 13, page 10 (line 16) to page 11 (line 5), omit clause 13, substitute:

13 Period for which a temporary exclusion order etc. is in force

(1) A temporary exclusion order in relation to a person comes into force immediately after an issuing authority makes the temporary exclusion order in relation to the person.

(2) A temporary exclusion order in relation to a person remains in force until the earlier of the following occurs:

(a) the period specified for the purposes of paragraph 10(6) (d) ends;

(b) the order is revoked under section 11.

(3) An interim temporary exclusion order comes into force immediately after the Minister makes the interim temporary exclusion order in relation to the person.

(4) An interim temporary exclusion order in relation to a person remains in force until the earlier of the following occurs:

(a) an issuing authority makes a decision on the related application made by the Minister under subsection 12A(3);

(b) the Minister issues a return permit to the person under subsection 15(1).

(23) Clause 14, page 11 (line 6) to page 13 (line 26), omit the clause.

(24) Clause 15, page 14 (line 10), omit the note, substitute:

Note 1: See section 18 for how an application for a return permit can be made.

Note 2: There are judicial review rights in relation to decisions under this subsection.

(25) Clause 15, page 14 (lines 19 to 25), omit "within a reasonable period" (wherever occurring), substitute "as soon as practicable".

(26) Clause 16, page 17 (lines 7 to 10), omit subclause 16(7).

(27) Clause 16, page 17 (line 14), omit "(to the extent known to the Minister)".

(28) Clause 16, page 17 (after line 22), after subclause 16(8), insert:

(8A) Before the Minister imposes a condition mentioned in subsection (9) or (10) on a return permit, the Minister must request, in writing, the approval of an issuing authority to impose the condition.

(8B) A request under subsection (8A) must set out the facts and other grounds on which the Minister considers the condition should be imposed on the return permit.

(8C) In considering whether to approve the condition, subsections 16(3) to (8) are taken to apply to the issuing authority in the same way as those subsections apply in relation to the Minister.

(8D) To avoid doubt, the Minister must not impose the condition if the issuing authority does not approve the condition.

(29) Clause 17, page 20 (lines 18 and 19), omit ", in the opinion of the Minister,".

(30) Clause 17, page 20 (after line 24), at the end of the clause, add:

(7) Subsections 16(3) to (8D) are taken to apply to a decision under subparagraph (1) (a) (i) of this section to vary the period during which the permit is in force in the same way as those subsections apply to a condition imposed on a permit under that section.

(31) Clause 20, page 22 (after line 32), at the end of clause 20, add:

(3) The fault element for paragraph (1) (a) is knowledge.

(32) Heading to clause 23, page 25 (line 3), omit "Reviewing authority", substitute "Issuing authority".

(33) Clause 23, page 25 (line 5) to page 26 (line 2), omit "a reviewing authority" (wherever occurring), substitute "an issuing authority".

(34) Clause 23, page 26 (lines 3 to 8), omit "reviewing authority" (wherever occurring), substitute "issuing authority".

(35) Clause 23, page 26 (line 10), omit "A reviewing authority", substitute "An issuing authority".

(36) Heading to clause 24, page 26 (line 14), omit "a reviewing authority", substitute "an issuing authority".

(37) Clause 24, page 26 (line 16), omit "a reviewing authority", substitute "an issuing authority".

(38) Clause 25, page 27 (line 13), omit "making", substitute "applying for".

(39) Clause 30, page 28 (line 24) to page 29 (line 3), omit the clause.

(40) Clause 31, page 29 (lines 12 to 16), omit paragraphs 31(2) (c) and (d).

These amendments to the Temporary Exclusion Orders bill ensure that the bill conforms to the unanimous and bipartisan recommendations of Labor and government members of the intelligence committee—no more, no less. It is extremely disappointing that the Minister for Home Affairs has come into this House and continued with his false assertion that the government is agreeing to all but two of the committee's 19 recommendations. In fact, there are 10, or possibly 11, of the unanimous recommendations of the committee that have not been agreed to by the government. And it is also disappointing that the minister asserted just a moment ago that if the government were to agree to the amendments recommended by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, it would somehow increase the risk of terrorism in the community. He hasn't explained that assertion. It is a baseless assertion. It is not one we heard from the intelligence agencies or the Australian Federal Police during the course of the hearings of the intelligence committee.

I will just go through each of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security that the government has failed to implement, and set out how we've sought to give effect to the recommendations—which, I would stress again, were made jointly by six Liberal senators and House members of the committee and five Labor members of the committee on a unanimous basis. It's disappointing, indeed, that we haven't seen the member for Canning, the chair of the committee, even attempt to defend the unanimous recommendations that the committee he chaired made.

The first recommendation goes to recommendation 1, and amendment (10) relates to that. That first recommendation of the committee was to amend the bill to require the minister, before making a temporary exclusion order that requires the person to surrender their Australian passport or to be prevented from applying for obtaining a new Australian passport, to have regard, to the extent that that information is available, to (1) whether the person has a lawful ability to stay in their current location for the duration of the order; (2) whether the person has a lawful ability to enter a third country—for example, due to holding a passport or residency visa for that third country—and (3) the likelihood of the person being detained, mistreated or harmed if the person has no lawful ability to stay in their current location and no lawful ability to enter a third country for the duration of the order.

The government claims that it has implemented this recommendation, but that is not proved. The purpose of the recommendation is absolutely clear. It's self-explanatory. You'd think the government would have instantly embraced this recommendation—which, like all the other recommendations made by the committee, is a practical recommendation, one which makes the bill more workable. The government's amendments say that the minister should consider those matters before imposing a condition on a return permit. The committee's specific recommendation was that the matters I've just gone through have to be considered before the minister imposes a temporary exclusion order.

Was this a mistake? Is there some reason the government says those matters shouldn't be considered before the minister issues a temporary exclusion order? Does the government even understand the difference between a return permit and a temporary exclusion order? We don't know the answer to those questions, because instead of engaging with Labor, instead of engaging with the parliament, instead of doing this in a public and appropriate manner the government has falsely claimed that it has implemented the first recommendation of the committee. That is, in a very literal sense, not true. Amendment (10) would implement the committee's recommendation as it was made.

Recommendation 2 is dealt with in amendment (25). The second recommendation of the committee was to amend the bill to require the minister to give a return permit to a person as soon as practicable upon receipt of an application or when a person is to be deported to Australia. The bill as presented to the parliament amends the previous version of the bill so that the minister is only required to give a return permit within a reasonable period. 'As soon as practicable' is not the same test— (Time expired)

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