Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memorandum and move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

In his second reading speech on the Transport Security Amendment (Serious Crime) Bill 2020, Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton said that:

" The Australian government ' s first responsibility is to keep Australians safe and secure, and this includes protecting Australians from transnational, serious and organised crime. "

It is in this spirit that Labor today moves the Migration Amendment (New Maritime Crew Visas) Bill 2020 – an effort to improve legislation introduced by the Government that fails to adequately address security threats at our airports and seaports.

This Bill will amend the Migration Act1958 to require the relevant Minister to replace the current Maritime Crew Visa with two new categories of Maritime Crew Visas under Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The two new categories of Maritime Crew Visas will include:

Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012.

These reforms to our visa system are needed to ensure that we can properly protect our borders – particularly at our seaports.

The Australian Government has identified that there are distinct features of 'Flag of Convenience' ship registration, regulation and practice that organised crime syndicates or terrorists may seek to exploit.

Reduced transparency or secrecy surrounding complex financial and ownership arrangements are factors that can make 'Flag of Convenience' ships more attractive for use in illegal activity, including by organised crime or terrorist groups.

This means that 'Flag of Convenience' ships may be used in a range of illegal activities including illegal exploitation of natural resources, illegal activity in protected areas, people smuggling and facilitating prohibited imports or exports.

This Bill seeks to reduce the risk of foreign crew working in the Australian domestic shipping trade with criminal histories that would be unacceptable under the comparative MSIC scheme.

It achieves this by requiring that foreign maritime crew on 'Flag of Convenience' vessels are subject to appropriate security screening and background checking, similar to the standard that is applied to Australians who apply for a Maritime Security Identification Card (MSIC).

The provisions in this Bill will fix a significant flaw in the Transport Security Amendment (Serious Crimes) Bill 2019, namely that foreign seafarers would be subject to significantly less scrutiny than their Australian counterparts, despite the potential risk of illegal activity from ships and crews that fly under 'Flags of Convenience'.

It is appropriate that we take the opportunity to get this legislation right in order to protect our community.

As such, I commend the Bill to the Senate.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.