Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. The refugee and migration sector holds serious concerns about the impact that the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024 will have on children. Parents and guardians will be forced, through the threat of criminal sanction, to take actions in aid of having their children removed from Australia. What has the government done to ensure this legislation does not violate the foundational principle of international human rights law in relation to the best interests of the child?

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

I thank the member for North Sydney for her question and for her constructive and considered engagement on this issue and, indeed, on many issues relevant to the immigration portfolio, particularly those affecting refugees. But I would say, in respect of her question, a few things.

Firstly, she would appreciate that there is a safeguard expressly in the act, which has just been passed through this House, which deals with children. I would also direct her, more broadly, to the statement of compatibility with human rights which accompanies the bill, which makes clear that this is a piece of legislation that is consistent with Australia's human rights obligations.

What we are doing with this important piece of legislation is to fill a very significant loophole—a loophole that affects a small cohort of people who have no basis upon which to remain in Australia but who are refusing to cooperate with efforts to effect their removal. And, importantly—as I believe the member knows, and all members should know—these people are not refugees.