Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. Can the minister confirm that the intended employer of the Italian au pair emailed the minister's public email address at 4.02 pm on a Wednesday of a sitting week, and that the minister signed the ministerial intervention order in just a matter of hours? How many of the thousands of emails sent to the minister's public email address are resolved by the minister in just a matter of hours?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can inform the member that there was a recent case that I dealt with—and I won't nominate the Labor member—where a lady was wanting to travel in relation to funeral arrangements. I acted very quickly in relation to that matter. There are matters where I'm advised by the department that there is a pending deportation. Whether it's of a person who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, whether it's of a child with autism, there are many countless cases I can point to where I have acted within a matter of hours. This might be an anomaly to the shadow minister, because, as I say, he doesn't ask questions and he's not across his brief, but the role of the immigration minister is to look at cases on their merits and to act accordingly.

I have received—you wouldn't believe it—over 9,000 representations. In those cases, I've used my ministerial intervention power on 4,816 visas. I have received high-frequency callers on my list here. There are two that write to me frequently. The most prolific on the other side is the shadow Treasurer. He has written to me 192 times in relation to matters.

Dr Aly interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cowan is warned!

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was some public debate about the member for McMahon when he was immigration minister about his motivation for acting on advice or acting against advice, as it may have been on this occasion, from the department. If the Labor Party want to go through these cases, I'm happy to do it, but I tell you now, Mr Speaker: I look at the merit of these individual cases and I make a decision based on the facts before me. Ministerial intervention is not enlivened—

Dr Aly interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Cowan has been warned!

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

unless the advice from the department is not to issue the visa for the child who is sick, or for the parent who has overstayed their contributory parent visa and has been told he or she needs to return back home. I look at those cases, and there are many. I can look at people opposite and know that they present these cases to me genuinely. I don't know whether they have some personal connection with the individual involved. I don't know, as is being alleged against the member for McMahon, whether the person was a financial donor to the Labor Party. But I take on merit the cases that they put to me.

Ms Ryan interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lalor is warned!

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have no personal interest in relation to that matter. I have stated what this is about. Be reassured of this fact: all of these personal attacks have nothing at all to do with visas for people on tourist visas but everything to do with the Labor Party trying to conjure up these dirty personal attacks because they hate the fact that we have been successful on Operation Sovereign Borders. (Time expired)