Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

As I say, the former government did leave thousands of people in limbo for years with no resolution in sight. The number was given by Senator Payman, and, of course, it's a very large number. But, since taking office a couple of years ago, our government has taken a different approach to this matter. We've provided resolution-of-status visas for anyone with a temporary protection or safe haven enterprise visa before 14 February 2023 and who has been found to be owed protection. This has provided a visa pathway for thousands of people neglected by the former government. Of the 6,352 people who were not found to be genuine refugees but are still lawfully in the community, only 167 are without work rights and access to Medicare. As I say, the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister Burke, is working through the failed fast-track cohort on a case-by-case basis. It's a large job to be done as part of our fixing our broken migration system, but it's one that Minister Burke is committed to.