Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Hansard source

I also wanted to refer to the objectives of the Immigration Assessment Authority, which were set out in section 473FA of the Migration Act, until the ART bills were rushed through this chamber. That legislation made clear that, in carrying out its review functions, the Immigration Assessment Authority was required to provide a mechanism of limited review that was efficient, quick, free of bias, consistent with the procedural requirements set out in the Migration Act and independent of the minister and the Department of Home Affairs. I'll just repeat that. The objectives of the limited review to be undertaken by the IAA were to be efficient, quick, free of bias and consistent with the procedural requirements set out in the Migration Act and to be independent of the government.

Given that the wait times for protection visa matters to be processed by the ART have doubled since you took office, Minister, do you accept that that kind of quick, unbiased and independent process, which was previously offered by the Immigration Assessment Authority before it was abolished, could help the government address the unsustainable growth in its case load and that now is the particular time where we need the assistance of an IAA to assist with that backlog of cases?