Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I understand there might be one or two others. I want to acknowledge the great job that Senator Payne has done as Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. A heavy workload has been an attribute of that committee over a long period of time. I also thank the members of that committee. In my former role as Minister for Justice and Customs, I had a lot to do with that committee.

The bill before us, the Migration Amendment (Maritime Crew) Bill 2007, though a small bill, is an important bill. Under current arrangements, foreign crew are granted special purpose visas by operation of law. Prior to a ship’s arrival in Australia, ship operators are required to report all crew to the Australian Customs Service. Those crew names are checked against Australia’s movement alert list, which includes persons listed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. While these arrangements have been working effectively for many years, the government believes that the measures contained in this bill are needed to further strengthen the integrity of Australia’s borders.

The bill will create a new temporary visa, to be known as the maritime crew visa. It will provide the crew of non-military ships with the legal authority to travel to Australia by sea and remain in Australia in connection with the work on their ships. Significantly, the application process for the new visa will enable crew members to be subjected to more rigorous security checking before a visa is granted. For example, the application process will collect considerably more data on foreign crew than is currently available through pre-arrival crew lists and will also provide additional time for further security checks to be undertaken in the event that there is a match against Australia’s movement alert list.

As with most other visas, the detail governing the new maritime crew visa will be set out in the migration regulations. While there will be a small compliance cost associated with the introduction of the new visa, care is being taken to ensure that the regulatory framework accommodates the needs of industry. It is anticipated, for example, that the new visa will be able to be applied for online, and there will be no charge for the visa. Shipping agents will also be able to apply for the visa on behalf of crew members.

A number of points were raised during the debate and I think it is fair to say that speakers on this bill are all supportive of its intentions and what it does; however, there was a suggestion that the government has been slow to introduce these measures and that this has put Australia at risk of a terrorist attack. The first point that should be noted is that there are already security checking measures in place in connection with the existing special purpose visa and that these arrangements have been working effectively, without incident, for many years. Notwithstanding, the government continually reviews its security arrangements and has decided that the system would benefit from the introduction of the new visa. As I have said publicly and in this place many times, security is a work in progress and we are continually reviewing ways that we can improve the system to improve security for Australia. Therefore, the suggestion that there is a gaping hole in Australia’s maritime security is simply not correct.

The second point to note is that it is entirely appropriate for there to be a consultation process before any significant changes are made, even though meaningful consultation clearly takes some time. If that were not pursued, the opposition would be the first to attack the government and others for not doing so. The benefits of conducting such consultation are recognised in the report of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, which concludes:

… the Bill strikes an appropriate balance between the need to strengthen security at ports whilst allowing for ease of use by industry and maritime crew.

In summary, the measures in this bill will help to strengthen the integrity of Australia’s borders while being responsive to the needs of maritime crew and the shipping industry as a whole. As such, it is a thoroughly worthwhile bill and I commend it to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.