Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry. The member for Macnamara said:

… this bill is not about a proportionate response from government but about cruelty and politics. Cruelty and politics are what are governing this bill and its creation.

So it will be very interesting to see what members who said such strong things in such strong language only four years ago now have to say about this bill and its passage through the parliament. I hope that they will be able to admit that they got it wrong, admit the error of their ways and say, 'Yes, it is a bit harder when you're in government. It is a little bit more difficult when you are in government. You do have to take some action. Otherwise, what you might see is a drug syndicate being run out of Villawood detention centre.' I will leave it up to those opposite as to how big the mea culpa will be, but hopefully there will be some understanding that on two occasions they got it very, very wrong.

What are the provisions in this bill? The Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2024 allows the minister to determine that certain items are prohibited in relation to immigration detention facilities and detainees if the minister is satisfied that possession or use of that thing might be a risk to the health, safety or security of persons in the facility or to the order of the facility. Prohibited things may include controlled drugs and prescription drugs not taken by the person to whom they are prescribed, mobile phone subscriber identity module, or SIM, cards and other internet capable devices. The amendments will also expand an authorised officer's power to search, screen and seize prohibited things in relation to immigration detention facilities and detainees without a warrant if the person exercising the power believes on reasonable grounds that doing so is reasonable and necessary to mitigate security and safety risk. The bill also includes amendments that will, in certain circumstances, allow a detainee to continue having access to alternative means of communication, if a prohibited communication device is seized, to enable the detainee to communicate with family or to obtain support—for example, legal advice.

The bill substantially mirrors the provisions introduced in the coalition bills, but with editions that specify certain conditions and limits on the powers being introduced. The coalition strongly supports measures to assist operational staff to crack down on the organised crime that is running rife in our immigration detention facilities, which is why we will be supporting this legislation without amendment. And I say to those opposite: better late than never. That is one positive.

In conclusion, I'll look forward to what the member for Fremantle has to say, given his words, which I will quote to him:

… this bill is not about a proportionate response from government but about cruelty and politics. Cruelty and politics are what are governing this bill and its creation.

Most Australians would say that this is just common sense. If you've got people who are nonresidents of this country and are in detention, we should be doing all we can to stop them from basically running an organised crime racket from inside that detention centre. Especially if they're running drug-trafficking operations, we should be doing all we can to stop it. That is why we support this bill.

Debate adjourned.

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