Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member and note his keen interest in these issues and his participation in the Jobs and Skills Summit last week—a very effective contribution, I might say. Since the borders reopened, many have discovered that visa processing is an essential—indeed, fundamental—function of our national government. This is something that on this side of the House we have long understood, which is why in opposition we stood against and defeated the former government's attempt to privatise our visa processing system—a privatisation that would have cost 2,000 jobs. When we arrived in government, there were a million visas waiting to be processed. This isn't good enough. It demonstrated a system in crisis.

This government, the Albanese government, recognises this and is getting on with the job of ending this crisis. We have been taking a series of steps to fix it, to build a bigger, better trained and more productive workforce, recognising the vital role skilled migration plays in this in conjunction with the work done by the Minister for Skills and Training, recognising that this isn't a lazy policy option as it has too often been over the last decade.

We also recognise the facts. We recognise the reality with which we are confronted. That isn't true for everyone in this place. Yesterday, the shadow minister for home affairs said to SBS that the previous didn't make cuts to the system. She said that the reduction in funding in Home Affairs was related to operations in regional processing. However, if the shadow minister had read the portfolio budget statement for her own department, she would have known that funding for visa processing in this program year was cut by over $36 million. I ask myself if perhaps she can't be solely blamed for this. Perhaps it was the other minister for home affairs at the time. He's not even here. Perhaps he's checking the budget papers!

After nine years of neglect, we are getting on with repairing the damage. We'll be engaging 500 more workers, 500 hardworking public servants, in the home affairs department, to get visas moving. This is on top of 215 additional staff who are working on visa processing. We are getting visas moving to get the economy moving, because we understand immigration is about nation building. It's not a function that can be neglected or a tap that can be turned on and off. Fixing this mess is one of the most urgent tasks of this government, and we are getting on with the job, as we have been since day one, and getting the visas moving.

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