David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I first want to thank Senator Shoebridge for his work in this area over many, many years now, and that includes his time in the Senate. Also, I've seen the way Senator Scarr engages methodically and in good faith on a range of issues, including this. I may very much disagree with his party's position on elements of amendments in this bill, the Administrative Review Tribunal (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2024, but I do think he's a genuinely good-faith actor when it comes to getting across legislation and ensuring that it is sound.

I also want to commend the Attorney-General and the government for making the Administrative Review Tribunal more independent and transparent. This is clearly a crucial and long-overdue step towards a fairer system. But fairness and accessibility, two of the tribunal's stated goals, remain out of reach for many, particularly when it comes to migration matters. 'Fair and accessible' should mean just that, and it should mean that for everyone, but under the Migration Act, the tribunal has no discretion to extend appeal deadlines for migration applicants, regardless of their circumstances.

If you are currently homeless and don't receive a decision in time, too bad. If you're in hospital with a serious illness and you miss the deadline, too bad. If you're fleeing family violence and your decision is sent to your abuser's address, too bad. In these cases, the only option is to go to the Federal Court, where cases drag on for years, clogging our legal system and dragging out the uncertainty.

Migration matters make up 87 per cent of the tribunal's case load, yet the tribunal is stripped of discretion in these cases. I find there is a disconnect in this place, in that we say to these bodies, 'We trust you. You're experts. The appointment process is sound. We're going to have people on there who make great decisions,' but then we take away discretion. We've seen it done time and time again. We saw it done with the NACC, where we don't leave it up to the experts. We say: 'You're experts. Do your thing, except in these circumstances where politics comes into play.' On this issue, it is very cruel politics, and so many Australians want the major parties to do better on this. This bill was an opportunity to fix this, and I think it's an opportunity that has been missed.

Beyond procedural barriers, the government has failed to address another major injustice: the people who have been left behind by the fast-track process. It's a process that, while in opposition, Labor pointed out many times was neither fast nor fair and has left so many people in our communities in limbo. It was a deeply flawed refugee determination system that was, rightly, abolished by this government, yet we have 7,000 people stuck in limbo, denied a fair review of their asylum claims. Many of these people arrived in Australia as children. It wasn't their decision to come here. They came here with their parents or with a parent. They went to school here and made friends here. They learned our history. They play sport in local teams in their community. They have dreamed about their future, like any other Australian kid. But, for them, that future remains uncertain. These young people, many of whom are now in their late teens or early 20s, don't even remember their country of origin. For all intents and purposes, they are Australian. They believe they're Australian. They sound like they're Australian. They are committed to Australian values and want to contribute but, because of the political race to the bottom on asylum seeker issues, our government still refuses to give them a fair go.

For how long have we heard leaders say, 'If you have a go, you'll get a go'? What about these young people? They've grown up in a country that treats them as temporary, in the only home they've ever known. They've been forced onto temporary bridging visas that keep them in a cycle of precarity, preventing them from planning their lives, accessing higher education or pursuing long-term employment. Many aren't even allowed to work or study at all because of the conditions of their bridging visas. Imagine finishing high school alongside your classmates. You've got hopes and dreams for the future. You apply to university, and you get in. Some young people I've spoken to have won scholarships to universities. They've been the top of their class. They've worked harder than their peers, driven by a desire to make something of the opportunities this country should be giving them. They go to university and, when they turn 18, they get a letter from this government saying, 'Sorry, you can no longer study at this institution.' In many cases, they can't work. They have no study or work rights. This is so cruel. When you zoom out, its cruel, and, when you talk to someone in that situation, it's cruel. I do not understand why we do this as a country. We've got young people who have dreamt of working in health care or education. We hear so much about the desperate need for more workers in those areas, and we see a government trying to get more people to migrate to Australia. Yet we have people here in our communities who want to do that, and we're not allowing them to chase their dreams. They're being shut out of university or even TAFE.

This is a moral failure of our country. It's a moral failure to not recognise the contributions of thousands of people who have already given so much to this country despite being given so little in return. I would urge colleagues in this place to think about this moral failure. If we truly love this place, we should expect more of this country. We should be constantly challenging ourselves when it comes to these issues that happen for political reasons but have such a brutal impact on fellow human beings.

I support this bill, given the government's amendments that remove the provisions that would have caused even greater harm to migration applicants. But let's be clear. The tribunal is still not fair and accessible for the majority of its applicants, and the government must act to fix the impacts of the broken fast-track system that has left 7,000 people in our communities in limbo. We must do better. Fairness should not depend on who you are, who you know or where you were born.

Minister, can you advise whether it is the government's intention to continue to work to make the ART more fair and accessible for migration applications, considering they make up 87 per cent of the tribunal's case load?