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

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows

The purpose of the Migration Amendment (Temporary Visa Extensions and Reinstatements) Bill 2021 is to provide uniform and automatic extensions to time-limited temporary visa subclasses where the visa holder has been stranded overseas and unable to enter the country due to closure of Australia's international border during the human biosecurity emergency period under the Biosecurity Act 2015, which has been in place since 17 March 2020.

Australia's international border was closed on 20 March 2020 by a biosecurity emergency period, as provided by the Biosecurity Act 2015, in response to the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

At the time of Australia's international border closure, many thousands of temporary visa holders - some of whom have lived in Australia for many years on a pathway to permanent residency - were overseas but living and working in Australia at the time. Due to the necessary speed of the border closure, most were unable to return to Australia before the closure.

The international border closure also affected a large cohort of visa holders who had received their visa grants, quit their jobs, packed up their homes, sent their possessions to Australia, only to be unable to move to Australia themselves.

Through no fault of their own, this situation has had a devastating impact on many temporary visa holders, and on their workplaces, communities, and families, as many affected temporary visa holders have been separated from incomes, partners, and children.

The Bill will provide concessions to temporary visa holders who have been stranded overseas because of Australia's international border closure with uniform and automatic visa extensions that will enable them to receive all the rights and privileges within the conditions of the visa they paid for and were granted. For many temporary visa holders, this will mean being able to continue on their visa pathways following the re-opening of our international borders without further disadvantage, penalty, or forfeiture.

Automatic extensions have already been provided to holders of a Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) or a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870). This legislation will ensure that all eligible temporary visas are treated uniformly.

Eligible temporary visas will be any temporary visa whose holder was, at any point during the visa period, unable to enter Australia only because of its international border closure under a travel restriction imposed by the Commonwealth Government, such as the COVID-19 human biosecurity emergency period. This means that this provision will not apply if the temporary visa holder was unable to enter Australia for some other reason in addition to the travel ban, such as medical advice that they should not fly, financial issues, conditions on the visa, etc.

The legislation will do this by providing automatic visa extensions for existing temporary visa holders who are, or have been, stranded offshore while holding valid temporary visas. Eligible temporary visas will be automatically credited with the amount of time the temporary visa holder has lost due to Australia's international border closure.

The maximum possible extension provided under the Bill will be the full amount of days Australia's international border was closed under a travel restriction imposed by the Commonwealth Government, such as the COVID-19 human biosecurity emergency period. Temporary visa holders whose visas were in effect during the entire border closure period and who were unable to enter Australia at all would receive the maximum extension.

However, extensions to the balance of an eligible temporary visa could be less than the maximum amount provided for by the Bill and will vary based on individual visa conditions and circumstances. Some temporary visa holders may be granted a travel exemption and re-enter Australia before the international border is reopened, some may have been granted a visa after the international border was closed, and others may have a temporary visa that was granted for a period less than Australia' international border closure period; for example, if Australia's international border is closed for 24 months, the maximum a 12-month visa could be extended for under the Bill is 12 months.

The Bill will also provide for automatic visa reinstatements of temporary visas for persons whose visas have expired by the time Australia's international borders open. These reinstated visas will then be eligible for the automatic extensions provided by this Bill.

The Bill provides a long-overdue plan for the thousands of temporary visa holders who have been severed from their homes, their incomes, and their families for 19 months and counting.

The Government and the Department of Home Affairs have suggested that if a temporary visa holder has been stranded abroad and separated from their family, their family should leave Australia and join them overseas - or, to use their exact turn-of-phrase, these people should just "go home".

This simply isn't good enough and speaks volumes on how the Government regards these people who, when we needed them, were there for us. We invited these people into our country, and they came, they built homes, they built careers, and they built families. They built lives here, while strengthening our economy, paying taxes, contributing to our rich cultural diversity, and making huge commitments to our modern, multicultural country.

But now that they are the ones that need us, the Government has told them to "go home".

Many of these temporary visa holders are working their way through various student and skilled visas on a pathway to permanent residency. Once a temporary resident is eligible for permanent residency, an application for a permanent resident visa can take well over a year to process. Many of these people have been here for many, many years and are, for all intents and purposes, Australian.

Through no fault of their own, they have lost months, if not years here in Australia. They jumped every hurdle and ticked every box that our strict migration regime demanded of them. For them to now lose their right to be in this country would be unjust and unfair.

This Bill is about setting that right, to the greatest degree possible.

The Government might not have a plan for the thousands of temporary residents that have been stranded overseas, but the Australian Greens do. And I encourage the Government, and everyone in this place, to support it.

I commend this Bill to the Senate.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.