Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Griff for tabling this disallowance, which will be supported by the Australian Greens. What the government is proposing to do, and what this motion seeks to disallow, is to massively increase filing fees for people who wish to litigate migration matters in the Federal Circuit Court. When I say 'massive', I mean an increase of over 400 per cent. Actually, it is an increase of nearly 500 per cent, so maybe 'exorbitant' would be a better description than 'massive' to describe an increase, in one case, from $690—the current fee—to $3,300—the proposed fee. The Greens hold dear the concept of access to justice, and access to justice should not be determined by the depth of somebody's pockets nor the thickness of their bankroll. Far too many people are already priced out of Australia's justice system, and the regulations which this motion seeks to disallow would just make things worse. It will decrease access to justice for some of the people in our country who need access to justice most—people seeking asylum, refugees and holders of temporary visas.

These matters are high stakes; they are potentially life-changing matters. We have a politicised Department of Home Affairs making decisions that are massively impactful on peoples' lives in order to please its political masters. There are countless examples of Home Affairs decisions being made on things like applications for asylum that are overturned in the courts. It happens ultra-regularly in this country, yet this government wants to make it more expensive for people to seek justice—500 per cent more expensive. Remember, many of these people are people who the government has banned from having work rights in our country and people from whom the government has cut off income support. Basically, the government said, 'You can't work, and we're not going to pay to keep you alive,' so the burden goes to those fantastic organisations around the country who support people seeking asylum and refugees in Australia. These people often have limited English language skills. They're unfamiliar with our judicial system and with our culture. This is a neoliberal user-pays move by the government. The proposal to lift fees is unjust, it is bad law, it has a racist underpinning and it should be disallowed. I thank Senator Griff for bringing this motion to the chamber, which will be supported by the Australian Greens.