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

I have some questions for the Minister representing the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Firstly, proposed section 494E appears to create a loophole for the government to validate its own defective notifications to visa applicants and holders. We've got concerns that this will potentially result in people losing review rights, which in turn could result in things like permanent family separation, indefinite detention or refoulement. Given the potential for those consequences, which are pretty dire, why is the government proposing this section instead of simply working to improve its compliance with the current notification framework?