Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, I am referring to this bill. On this matter before us today in this bill, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship rejected the offer from the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel to put these very measures in place, yet the government comes in here today and says that this is something it is keen to do. This is a government at war with itself! It is at war with itself over sensible policy. It is a government that cannot agree with itself. Rather than coming in here today in a spirit of bipartisan support for the families that are affected by this measure, the government wants to play petty politics. It wants to play petty games of one-upmanship by introducing another bill into the House, when it could simply support this bill, sit down in good faith and negotiate any amendments it may wish to put forward. The government should, frankly, be ashamed of itself in the way it is dealing with this bill.

The families of those lateral transfer members who are willing to give their lives and services to Australia in our Defence Force should be afforded the same citizenship status as the serving members. The ADF is currently seeking to recruit in the order of 300 lateral transfer members per year. Nine out of 10 of these transferees have families they would wish to bring to Australia with them. The Royal Australian Navy, for example, is currently reaping the benefits of a drop in personnel across Britain's armed services that is largely due to the UK's strategic defence and security review, and using these recruits to fill gaps within its own ranks via the lateral transfer process.

Under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, a permanent resident may be granted citizenship after completing 90 days of permanent service in the ADF or six months of service in the reserves. While this section is often used to support early citizenship for a lateral transfer member of the ADF, these accelerated provisions do not apply to that person's spouse or dependant under 18. Understandably, this out of step legislation can create discord within families of lateral transfer members. It can produce significant financial hardship for families on a day-to-day basis, as the spouse is ineligible for welfare support. The reality is that lateral transfer members are deployed, serving in the theatres and operations around the world, and, if the unthinkable should happen and that member dies, whether it be in combat or in training or otherwise, under current law there is no guarantee that their spouse and children would be able to stay in Australia, or access the support that would normally be extended to the families of Australian ADF personnel. As a permanent resident a member's spouse and dependants over 18 are required to reside in Australia for two years before they are entitled to the majority of social security payments. This often creates significant hardship for the families of lateral transferees. There has been unanimous support for the stakeholders the coalition has spoken with around this bill. In my own electorate of Cook, I met recently with a young lady who was in this exact predicament. Her husband transferred into the Australian armed forces from the UK. They are raising their young family in the shire. Her husband and her school-age children have been granted citizenship but, despite being a permanent resident, she will not qualify until January next year. It makes life difficult being the only person in a family whose residency is completely out of step with everyone else's, particularly given her husband's sacrifices. No-one needs that added level of uncertainty and confusion, especially with everything else this family has to contend with.

These are mums and dads who set the alarm for six every morning and get up without fail to make the lunches and pack the kids off to school knowing their partner is on the other side of the world putting their life on the line. The families have to deal with deployment schedules and constant separation, their hearts skipping a beat each and every time a casualty is reported on television. That is real bravery that far too often goes unrecognised.

This bill offers the families of lateral transfer members peace of mind—and that is the least we can do. The government has made assurances that, under these circumstances, support will be provided. This bill writes this into the letter of the law. In introducing this legislation my colleague the member for Fadden said that it honours those who honour us. This bill is indeed fitting and wholly appropriate and I commend it to the House. I recall that, when the member for Fadden first brought this matter to my attention, I immediately agreed. It was not something that I thought should be resisted at all. I thought this was the least an immigration minister should do to support those serving under our flag, serving our values and seeking to have those values fought for and defended around the world. The minister should be ashamed of his opposition to that measure and the government should be ashamed of their opposition to this bill for nothing more than petty politics.

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