Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table a revised explanatory memorandum relating to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Safety and Other Measures) Bill 2024 and move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

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

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

MIGRATION AMENDMENT (REMOVAL AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2024

The Albanese Government is committed to strengthening Australia's migration system.

Making it better, stronger and fairer.

And ensuring it is working in Australia's national interest.

The Migration Amendment (Removals and Other Measures) Bill 2024 will provide the Government with necessary tools to strengthen our immigration compliance framework, including to better manage immigration detention.

A BETTER, STRONGER AND FAIRER APPROACH

This legislation has three components, it will:

1) Include an express statement of Parliament's intent in the Migration Act 1958 that

2) Make it a crime for individuals to not cooperate with the Department on removal efforts where they have been given a direction to do something, with a penalty ranging from one to five years imprisonment.

3) Give the Minister for Immigration a new power to designate a country as a removal concern country where that country refuses to accept returns of their own citizens. This designation will prevent most nationals of that country who are outside Australia from making new Australian visa applications—while the designation remains in force.

There are currently non-citizens in Australia who have exhausted all visa pathways to stay in Australia, who have been found not to be owed protection.

But who refuse to engage with their home county to undertake actions like applying for a passport or attend meetings with officials from that country.

Unfortunately, examples of non-cooperation with the Government's removal efforts have been going on for far too long.

Against the expectations of the Australian community. And undermining the integrity of our migration laws.

The Government is determined to address this issue and to ensure this key aspect of our immigration system is better, stronger and fairer.

Put simply, we need these important tools to strengthen our migration system.

EXPRESS PARLIAMENTARY INTENTION

The Bill sets clear legislative expectations in relation to the behaviour of non-citizens who are on a removal pathway into the Migration Act 1958.

As amended, the Act will make clear that a non-citizen who is on a removal pathway is expected to voluntarily leave Australia.

And must cooperate with steps taken to arrange their lawful removal from Australia.

When this legislation is enacted, it will make clear that the Parliament expects foreign countries to cooperate with Australia to facilitate the lawful removal of their citizens from Australia.

DUTY TO COOPERATE WITH REMOVAL

The Bill also provides the Minister with a power to direct certain non- citizens who are on a removal pathway to cooperate with removal efforts.

Individuals considered 'removal pathway non-citizens' include:

This Bill responds to circumstances where non-citizens are deliberately and unreasonably impeding or frustrating removal efforts.

It provides an ability for the Minister to give directions to certain non- citizens who are on a removal pathway to cooperate with and facilitate efforts to arrange and effect their lawful removal from Australia.

This may include, for example, directing the non-citizen to complete, sign and submit an application for a passport or other foreign travel document to facilitate their removal from Australia.

The Bill also provides a power for the Minister to give a removal pathway non-citizen a direction to do other things the Minister is satisfied are reasonably necessary to determine whether there is a real prospect of removing the non-citizen becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future, or to facilitate their lawful removal from Australia.

The removal pathway direction provides a positive duty or:, the non-citizen to cooperate with removal efforts.

This will be supported by mandatory criminal penalties for those found guilty of an offence of failing to comply with the direction.

A failure to comply with a direction, without a reasonable excuse, will be a criminal offence carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months' imprisonment.

And a maximum available sentence of five years' imprisonment.

I want to reiterate, these amendments are targeted at non-citizens who have come to the end of any visa application processes.

And, who are on a removal pathway.

These individuals may be unlawful non-citizens who have exhausted their visa processing options.

And who are being held in immigration detention

Or they may be in the community on a Bridging Visa that is issued for removal purposes.

It is imperative that individuals who are on a removal pathway cannot be allowed to frustrate the Government -

And the Australian people by refusing to cooperate with their removal from Australia.

APPROPRIATE SAFEGUARDS

Importantly, this Bill also contains appropriate safeguards in relation to the exercise of this power.

The amendments provide for certain circumstances in which the Minister must not give a direction, including:

DESIGNATION OF A 'REMOVAL CONCERN COUNTRY'

A further significant measure in the Bill is a new personal power for the Minister to designate a country as a country of removal concern, where the Minister determines it is in the national interest to do so.

A foreign country should cooperate with Australia to facilitate the lawful removal of a non-citizen who is a national of that country.

This amendment is necessary because regrettably, some countries will not allow their nationals to return to their home country.

This is unless the person being removed is voluntarily cooperating with removal efforts.

The main objective of this designation is to gain the cooperation of that country in accepting and facilitating the removal from Australia of their citizens.

The power to designate a country of removal concern is an appropriate and proportionate measure to safeguard the integrity of Australia's migration system.

Designating a country as a removal concern country will have the effect of preventing new visa applications by most nationals of the designated country who are outside Australia, while the designation remains in force.

That is until satisfactory arrangements can be established between Australia and that other country to cooperate in relation to removal efforts.

It is recognised that there would be sensitive matters of bilateral concern needing to be considered before designation of a removal country of concern.

This is why the legislation provides that the Minister must consult with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs prior to making such a designation.

There are appropriate exemptions in place to continue to allow visa applications from close family relatives of Australian citizens and eligible permanent residents.

The Minister will also have a power to exempt certain classes of people or some classes of visa to, for example, continue to respect any international obligations that Australia may have under trade or other multilateral arrangements in relation to that country.

The designation of a country of removal concern will also not affect dual nationals who hold a valid passport from a country that is not a removal concern country.

It's important to note that the United States has a similar system in place to suspend visa grants for what they refer to as 'recalcitrant countries'.

And in 2022 the UK also legislated for a similar scheme, which allows the Home Secretary to suspend or delay visa processing from countries which do not cooperate with removal of their citizens from the UK, or deem visa applications from these countries as invalid.

So what we are proposing is in line with similar countries around the world.

BRIDGING VISA SCHEME

Finally, this Bill contains amendments to allow for the improved administration of the Bridging (Removal Pending) visa scheme established to manage NZYQ-affected non-citizens.

This includes amendments to clarify that a new BVR may be granted without application at any time to a current BVR holder—for example, where it may be appropriate to adjust the imposition of certain visa conditions to respond to a change in the level of risk the visa holder presents to the community.

The Bill also includes amendments to enable the Minister to revisit a protection finding in certain circumstances, where a non-citizen who holds a visa—such as a BVR- is on a removal pathway.

At present, it is only possible to revisit a protection finding under the Act for an unlawful non-citizen.

Following the High Court's decision in NZYQ, we now face circumstances in which this power needs to be expanded to certain non- citizens who hold a visa—particularly BVR holders.

Without this amendment, the Act would not provide a means to revisit a protection finding while a removal pathway non-citizen is in the community on a visa.

If the Government is to ensure that BVR holders and other non-citizens on a removal pathway are able to be removed as soon as it becomes reasonably practicable to do so, it is essential the Minister has the ability to revisit protection findings.

This legislation sends a strong signal about the Government's expectations of cooperation with removal efforts, by non-citizens who are on a removal pathway, and by other countries where it is appropriate for them to accept their nationals on removal from Australia.

The Government and the Australian people expect that individuals subject to removal under the Migration Act will cooperate with removal.

In conclusion, this Bill, gives the Australian Government important new tools to our migration system better, stronger and fairer for years to come.

I commend this Bill to the Chamber.

OFFSHORE PETROLEUM AND GREENHOUSE GAS STORAGE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (SAFETY AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2024

Throughout our history, Australia's prosperity has been closely tied to the success of our resources sector.

The contribution of the resources sector to Australia's national prosperity is significant, and it continues to play an essential and irreplaceable role supporting our economic wellbeing today.

The Australian Government will always support a strong and resilient resources sector, and in supporting the sector we have a responsibility to ensure the ongoing health and safety of its workers.

Nothing is more important than ensuring that every worker can come home safely at the end of a shift, or at the conclusion of a lengthy swing away from family and friends to the comfort of their homes.

It is therefore incumbent on Governments to review and update our rules and regulations governing resources sector safety to ensure those rules and regulations remain fit-for-purpose.

The Bill I am introducing to the Parliament today achieves this objective.

Improving offshore safety

This Bill proposes amendments to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 to improve safety outcomes for Australia's offshore resources sector workforce.

The Bill implements outcomes of a review of the offshore safety regime for offshore resources sector workers which was undertaken by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources between 2019 and 2021. This review recommended several improvements to ensure that Australia's offshore resources safety regime continues to provide an effective, leading best practice framework for ensuring the health and safety of the offshore resources sector workforce.

The Department of Industry, Science and Resources identified several additional measures to further strengthen Australia's offshore safety regime, which include improvements to operational health and safety, workforce health and wellbeing, and effective administration of the regime by the regulator.

The Department of Industry, Science and Resources worked closely with stakeholders throughout the review process and during subsequent policy analysis. A representative group comprising employers, the workforce, unions and state and territory governments were consulted extensively throughout the review. A public consultation process was also undertaken.

This Bill will implement the outcomes of the safety review, with additional reforms implemented by subsequent amendments to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Safety Regulations 2009 to be finalised following the passage of this Bill.

The key safety measures in this Bill will:

Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006

The reforms proposed in this Bill will improve safety outcomes for Australia's offshore resources sector workforce. Several of the measures included in the Bill will also drive greater alignment between Australia's offshore petroleum safety regime and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and its regulations.

Several measures identified in the safety review will be implemented in regulation following passage of the Bill. Some of these measures will be implemented through revisions to existing provisions, such as strengthening reporting obligations around sexual harassment, while others will create new provisions.

The regulations are supported by existing powers in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. Where this is not the case, the Bill inserts new regulation-making powers in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. The Government will consult on development of these regulations before they are made.

Improving jurisdictional interface in Australia's offshore areas

To further enhance safety outcomes in Australia's offshore resources industry, the Bill introduces amendments to clarify the validity of certificates issued under the Navigation Act 2012 to provide greater regulatory certainty for disconnectable facilities.

The proposed amendments will apply certain aspects of Commonwealth maritime legislation to disconnectable facilities that, from time to time, may need to disconnect to navigate away from cyclones or to undertake maintenance. These amendments will ensure that vessel safety certificates remain valid when a disconnectable facility transitions between the maritime and offshore petroleum regime, and this will improve safety outcomes.

Enhancing offshore regulatory frameworks

It is essential that the environmental management regulatory framework for offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas activities remains fit-for-purpose. In addition to enhancing safety outcomes for Australia's offshore resources sector workforce, this Bill introduces amendments to enable changes to be made to the Environment Regulations under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 while maintaining the validity of streamlined arrangements endorsed under section 146B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

In February 2014 the Federal Minister for the Environment endorsed the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority's regulatory processes as a Program that meets the requirements of Part 10 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Subsequently, the Minister also approved a class of actions which, if undertaken in accordance with the endorsed Program, will not require separate referral, assessment and approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The endorsed Program reflects the offshore environmental regulations under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 that were in place at that time. However, the Program cannot be amended to reflect changes to strengthen and improve those regulations over time.

The amendments proposed in this Bill will enable changes to be made to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2023 while ensuring that those changes do not impact the application of streamlined approval arrangements already in place under section 146B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The Australian Government is reviewing the offshore environmental management framework for petroleum and greenhouse gas activities to ensure the regime is fit-for-purpose and is appropriately designed to enable our economy to decarbonise over time. The amendments proposed in this Bill will support implementation of the outcomes of this review.

Minor and technical amendments

The Bill proposes additional minor and technical amendments to ensure the ongoing effective operation of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.

The amendments will:

Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006

The Bill, together with regulation changes in response to the safety review, will further strengthen the occupational health and safety outcomes for the offshore resources industry and make improvements to the operation of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. The Bill represents the Government's ongoing commitment to improve occupational health and safety outcomes for Australia's offshore resources sector workforce.

I commend the Bill to the chamber.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 111, further consideration of these bills is now adjourned to 14 May 2024.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.