David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019. As we move out of an environment dominated by COVID-19, which has unfortunately been characterised by border closures and lockdowns, like in my home state of Victoria, we must once again set our sights on what a return to normal will look like. Considering how well the Morrison government has handled the pandemic, and the fact that our economy is in a position to continue to grow past COVID-19, Australia will once again become an attractive location for foreign citizens to come and visit, whether it be for tourism, for work or to live. Australia is proudly a multicultural nation, and a large part of our success has been built on the back of migrants from around the world who are attracted by some of the great many benefits that Australia has to offer.

However, unfortunately, not everyone who wishes to come to our shores has good intentions in mind and do not wish to subscribe to the many values that we hold dear, such as respect for the rule of law. The respect for the rule of law is a fundamental value that underpins our society; it is what keeps Australians safe and our nation prosperous. The Morrison government is resolutely committed to upholding these values, ensuring that those who enter our borders share our respect for the rule of law and value the benefits that this brings to our society. Consistent with the views and expectations of all Australians, the Morrison government has no tolerance for criminal behaviour. Those that engage in crime and who pose a threat to Australians in their homes and communities have no place entering our borders.

Once the number of people crossing the border into Australia again begins to increase, so too will the threats to our security increase. It is not a right of noncitizens to enter into Australia, it is a privilege. This privilege that we bestow on those entering Australia is one that we must carefully manage. Australians expect that we, as the representatives of the people, have in place the right rules and regulations to ensure that this privilege is not taken for granted by those who wish to do us harm.

The Morrison government has shown that it is resolute in its commitment to keeping Australians safe. We have recently passed numerous pieces of legislation designed to keep Australians safe from foreign threats. They include the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Amendment Bill, the Foreign Intelligence Legislation Amendment Bill, the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill, and the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Sunsetting Review and Other Measures) Bill.

All of these, I have spoken on recently in this place. They are just a handful of recent examples of legislation, that have passed through the parliament, aimed at keeping Australians safe and free from the threat of violence. Recently, as everyone will be aware, the AUKUS announcement was made. This trilateral defence pact can be seen as one of the greatest achievements in strengthening our national security in recent history. It's one of the greatest steps taken by an Australian government to keeping Australians safe. These announcements outline the Morrison government's achievements over recent times that go towards keeping Australians safe. This commitment is extended today with the bill before us.

We are a welcoming, multicultural, open and cohesive society. At the same time, we need to ensure that we remain safe and secure. The Australian community expects that the Australian government can and should refuse entry to noncitizens or cancel their visas if they do not abide by the rule of law. It must be clear to those who wish to travel to our shores that if they choose to break the law and fail to uphold the standards of behaviour expected by the Australian community, that privilege of residing in Australia will be taken away from them. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Migration Act 1958 to specify that a person who does not pass the character test—that is, they've been convicted of a designated offence—may have their visa cancelled or visa application refused.

The character test, in one form or another, has been in the act since 1992. What the Morrison government is doing is ensuring that this test remains in step with the rest of our society and our values. The Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019 will ensure that noncitizens who are convicted of certain serious offences and pose a risk to the safety of the Australian community do not pass that character test and are, appropriately, considered for visa refusal or cancellation.

The bill broadens the existing discretionary powers to cancel or refuse visas under the character test. The amendments will allow for discretionary visa refusal cancellation for a noncitizen who has a conviction of a designated offence punishable by at least two years imprisonment. Designated offences include violent and sexual crimes, breaching personal protection orders like AVOs that protect women and children, using or possessing a weapon, or assisting with any of these crimes. These crimes are some of the most serious offences that can be committed and pose a direct threat to our community. The amendments address gaps in the current character test to capture noncitizens who have been convicted of a serious criminal offence punishable by at least two years imprisonment, have received less than 12 months imprisonment for their crimes and pose a risk to the Australian community.

By moving the character test onto more objective grounds, the bill will broaden the circumstances in which visas may be cancelled or refused and reduce the likelihood of such decisions being overturned on appeal. The last thing we want is for an individual whose character has been deemed unfit, and who poses a direct threat to the Australian community, to have their visa cancellation overturned on appeal. By focusing on the sentence available rather than the sentence imposed, the bill also captures offenders given sentencing discounts by judges due to plea bargains, guilty pleas or simply to avoid mandatory visa cancellation thresholds. This response to the precedents set out in Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and South Australia gives judges discretion to reduce criminal sentences where an offender may be deported due to their offending. As this power is discretionary, the government will have flexibility to focus on serious crimes perpetrated by criminals who pose a genuine and present risk to the Australian community.

Why the Labor Party would oppose this is beyond me. Opposing this bill is essentially saying that you're okay with convicted offenders, who pose a threat to our citizens, walking the streets amongst the community.

You've had two years to negotiate. It shows that the Labor Party is not serious about ensuring that our citizens are safe and that their priorities are wrong. The last time the Labor government was in government, under Prime Ministers Rudd and Gillard, they only cancelled and refused a total of 1,128 visas on character grounds. The Morrison government is not okay with this and will pull upon every lever we can as a government to keep Australians safe in their homes and in their communities. The coalition government has a strong record when it comes to combatting crime and keeping our streets safe. Since significant reforms were made in 2014, this government has already cancelled and refused visas of over 9,900 serious criminals. That's almost ten times as many criminals kept out of the Australian community than under Labor. Of the nearly 10,000 cancellations and refusals, offences ranged from murder, child sex and child pornography offences, rape and serious sexual offences against adults, armed robbery, drug offences, kidnapping and other violent offences, including assault, grievous bodily harm, reckless injury, domestic violence, stalking and intimidation, use of a weapon and attempted murder. I think all Australians will agree we don't want those people in our community.

Furthermore, the government cancelled or refused visas to over 320 organised crime figures, including members of outlaw motorcycle gangs. Each one of these visa cancellations or refusals was a great accomplishment and made Australians and our communities safe. This is something we should all be proud of, and we on this side are very proud of it. No-one here should be comfortable with a person who has proven to be capable of horrendous acts to be walking around our communities.

That Labor's position to visa cancellation should be only triggered by the sentence received, rather than the sentence available, shows that they do not take the threats to our community seriously or that they are just simply playing politics. To me, however, it seems as if both those assumptions are true.

It is a fact in 2011, Chris Bowen from the other place, passed laws with coalition support, which focused on the sentence available specifically for where crimes are committed in immigration detention, as opposed to the broader circumstances covered by today's bill. If Labor believed that it was necessary for this type of action to be available for crimes committed in immigration detention centres, it makes very little sense to me as to why they believe it should not be applied to crimes committed in all other areas of our community. Even Mr Albanese, the Leader of the Opposition, when first asked about the bill in 2019, said: 'Is it a good idea to deport people who break the law in Australia? Yes, it is.' Labor's backflip is essentially showing that they are backing foreign criminals over Australian citizens.

As I said earlier, the Morrison government is committed to ensuring our communities are safe, and that is why at the 2019 election, as part of our plan to protect our borders to keep Australians safe, we committed to strengthening the character test for foreign criminals even further to enable visa cancellations where a noncitizen has been convicted of a broader range of violent and sexual offences. It was our election commitment. We're keeping it here today. This government intends to keep that commitment and ensure our communities are safe. An Australian visa is a privilege, and our laws must deny that to those who pose a threat to the safety of all Australians. Ensuring that Australians are safe and free from the threat of harm is one of the fundamental tasks that a government must undertake. Without this security, citizens cannot prosper. I commend the bill to the Senate.