Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I do, because the government continues to refuse and cancel visas on character grounds. Section 501 has not changed. And I'll make this point: since coming to government, we have deported over 4,200 individuals from immigration detention. In our first year of government, the number of individuals we deported from immigration detention was almost double the number the previous government deported the year prior.

The AAT makes decisions independently of government to overturn some visa cancellations. As the minister has said, he'll be reviewing the recent AAT decisions and, where necessary and appropriate, he'll overrule them. The parliament yesterday passed legislation abolishing the rorted AAT and replacing it with the new Administrative Review Tribunal. The only effective way of ensuring that tribunal members are making better decisions is to issue a new, revised direction, which the minister will be doing. The new directive will ensure that the protection of the community outweighs any other considerations.

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