Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move amendment (3) on sheet 7791:

(3) Schedule 3, page 12 (after line 10), after item 8, insert:

8A After section 189

  Insert:

189A Certain unlawful non -citizens to be detained in separate immigration detention facilities

(1) This section applies if:

  (a) a person is detained as an unlawful non-citizen under section 189; and

  (b) the person was an unlawful non-citizen because:

     (i) the Minister refused, under subsection 501(1), to grant the person a visa because the person did not satisfy the Minister that the person passes the character test; or

     (ii) the Minister cancelled, under subsection 501(2), a visa that had been granted to the person because the person did not satisfy the Minister that the person passes the character test; and

(c) the person is being held in an immigration detention facility.

(2) The person must be held in a facility that only holds other unlawful non-citizens of a kind referred to in paragraph (1)(b).

(3) In this section:

  character test has the meaning given by section 501.

  immigration detention facility means:

  (a) a detention centre established under this Act; or

  (b) a place approved by the Minister under subparagraph (b)(v) of the definition of immigration detention in subsection 5(1); or

(c) a place or facility in a regional processing country where restraint is exercised over the liberty of a person who is taken to that country under section 198AD.

This amendment relates to the need to keep the different groups of asylum seekers who are detained in our facilities separate—to keep those who have committed crimes, people who are criminals, separate from those who have sought asylum in our country. I spoke about this at length during the second reading debate, so I do not propose to go into great detail now. Suffice it to say that many experts have suggested for a long time now that keeping those different groups separate is important for the safety of all involved, including the good order of our facilities.

We know just from recent weeks, after the riots on Christmas Island, that the people who suffered the intimidation and threats while that riot was going on were those who had committed no crime but were seeking Australia's protection as refugees. This amendment bans the government from keeping those two groups of people locked up together and instead ensures that groups are kept separate. It is a simple amendment. It makes sense, and we should just get on and ensure that it happens.