Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The good senator uses the term ‘revelation’. Of course, the case raised in this place yesterday was not a revelation to the department; the department knew about it before it was in the media. It might have been a revelation to the media, but it was certainly not a revelation to the department. It was not exposed to the department by the media; it was, in fact, already being actioned by the department. Have I said that cases of misuse of the visa are a sign that it is working? No. What I have said is that cases where people complain, and the complaint is actioned, confirm that, if there is an allegation, it will be properly investigated, it will be looked into and people will be dealt with. In other words, the system is working. I have made the point that there is a law against speeding but some people still speed. It is impossible to design a system that people will not at some point try to misuse.