Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) reaffirms that:

  (a) Australians love who they love, and the community must have confidence that the partner and spouse visa provisions in the Migration Act 1958 (the Act) are administered lawfully, fairly, impartially and with integrity;

  (b) while the Minister generally has the power to limit the number of visas in particular classes and subclasses by using the program management provisions in s86 of the Act, s87 of the Act explicitly prevents the 'capping' of visas to people who apply for a visa on the grounds that they are the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen or permanent resident;

  (c) the Parliament has voted twice to reject legislative amendments to give the Minister a power to cap these visa classes, preferring the processing of spouse visa applications to occur on a demand-driven basis; and

  (d) inexplicable and unconscionable delays by the Department of Home Affairs in processing thousands of partner visa applications continues to result in significant harm to, and consequences for, Australian citizens and permanent residents;

(2) condemns the Government for:

  (a) using the administrative tool of migration program planning levels to unlawfully override the legislated program management tools in s86 and s87 thus effectively 'capping' partner visas against the intent of s87 of the Act;

  (b) refusing to release advice on the legality of their actions to restrict partner visa grants;

  (c) presiding over an extraordinary blow out to 91,717 as at 31 March 2020 in the number of partner visa applications on hand, an increase of almost 30 per cent in under three years;

  (d) unacceptably high and deteriorating processing times for partner visa applications, with the Department's website indicating that:

     (i) subclass 300—75 per cent of applications are processed within 16 months and 90 per cent of applications are processed within 29 months;

     (ii) subclass 309—75 per cent of applications are processed within 15 months and 90 per cent of applications are processed within 20 months;

     (iii) subclass 100—75 per cent of applications are processed within 20 months and 90 per cent of applications are processed within 24 months;

     (iv) subclass 820—75 per cent of applications are processed within 20 months and 90 per cent of applications are processed within 25 months; and

     (v) subclass 801—75 per cent of applications are processed within 13 months and 90 per cent of applications are processed within 25 months;

  (e) cutting the number of partner visas granted by 8,000 per annum which will mean the backlog and processing times continue to grow;

  (f) allowing a blowout in the backlog of cases to 5,556 cases at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) as at 31 July 2020 with:

     (i) an average processing time for partner cases of 726 calendar days; and

     (ii) a partner visa set aside rate at the AAT of around 60 per cent;

  (g) failing to address the perverse consequences of COVID-19 related border restrictions for partner visa applicants including:

     (i) refusing to let numerous partner and prospective marriage visa holders enter Australia before their visa expires, or at least to extend their visa expiry date or refund their money; and

     (ii) refusing to let people who are currently in Australia on a temporary visa and who are granted an offshore partner visa to activate that visa without having to fly overseas; and

  (h) attempting to silence Australians who speak up publicly about the delays in processing and growing problems in the partner visa program; and

(3) calls on the Government to:

  (a) acknowledge the devastating human impact of delays and uncertainty on affected couples whose lives are in limbo, whose mental health is suffering, and whose relationships are being destroyed through separation from their partner for many years;

  (b) apologise for the unacceptable delays in processing partner visa applications and take immediate action to process the backlog noting the Government has collected massive levels of visa application revenue that should be used to process applications in a timely way;

  (c) urgently address the perverse consequences of COVID-19 related border restrictions on partner visas; and

  (d) publicly commit to affected people and the wider community that partner visa processing will in future be administered lawfully, fairly, impartially and expeditiously.

Australians love who they love, and it has always been part of modern Australia that people fall in love, marry people from overseas and build a life here. Yet right now, as we debate this motion, the lives of nearly 100,000 Australians are in limbo, desperately waiting for years for this miserable government to grant their partner visas. Australian couples are suffering, separated for years and hearts pining. Relationships are now stressed or broken as waiting times continue to increase. Desperate cries for help about partner visa delays are now one of the most common things that come to my office, and every single member of this House would have hundreds, sometimes thousands of, constituents with similar trauma.

It used to take six months or maybe a year—that was normal. But after seven years of this mean, miserable Liberal government, waiting times are drifting past two years and just keep rising. Perhaps worse, though, than the time it takes is the complete uncertainty and fear. Australians now cannot plan their lives. Do they buy a house? Sell a house? Do they start a family? Will they ever get a visa? They click refresh on the website, watching these estimated wait times rise and rise, getting little to no information about their application from that black hole, that vortex, which is the Department of Home Affairs. Many people are terrified to speak up, thinking this may harm their chances. In truth, I found this helps people, as the government now is so desperate to stop the public criticism it was caught only two weeks ago fast tracking visas to people who went to the media in desperation. People who had waited years suddenly got their visa in 12 hours! It's an outrageous abuse of process and a corruption of public administration.

These delays are not due to a lack of resources. The visas are expensive—they're nearly $8,000—plus thousands more for health checks, security checks and agent fees. No, the growing delays are the result of deliberate—and I believe illegal—government policy. From the moment the government was elected and the now Prime Minister became immigration minister, a hard cap was placed on the number of partner visas issued every year. Two years ago he cut the number of visas every year, so now waiting times just rise even faster.

'Illegal' is a pretty strong word to throw at a minister, but it's true. Under the Migration Act, the minister has the power to cap and queue the number of visas issued each year for most visa classes. But spouse, partner and dependent child visas are different. Section 87 of the act explicitly states that the minister cannot cap those visas. They're supposed to be demand driven, acknowledging the reasonable right of Australians to fall in love and build a life with their partner here. The Hawke and Howard governments tried to pass legislation to give the minister the power to cap these visas, but both times this was rejected by the Senate.

The government know that what they're doing is not just cruel it is illegal. They have legal advice which they refuse to release, but we saw with documents released under freedom of information a Yes Minister-style attempt in 2016 to explain that a planning level is not a cap—it's just a cap! Yet only under this government has this hard annual limit been locked in, in a flat line. It's a cap. Some of the saddest situations are those people who have been granted a prospective marriage visa, having paid $10,000 to $20,000 and waited for years yet the government will not let their fiance come to Australia now. The clock is ticking for these couples as their visas expire.

The irony was the acting minister last week, speaking about keeping Australians together when he's keeping couples apart. And disgracefully the government will not refund their money or extend their visa. They're ripping off Australians in their own state-sponsored immigration racket. Are they seriously asking Australians to fork out another $10,000 to $20,000 and wait another two to three years in the hope that next time they might get lucky? We're a better, fairer country than this. Australians deserve to be treated better by this government.

The issue is not just going to go away, no matter how much the government members may wish it. The numbers will just keep rising. That's their policy, and there are angry Australians in every electorate in this country. They are now getting organised, thanks in large part to the wonderful Amelia Elliott from the Deakin electorate. She can't get a call back from her local MP—although she told me she watched 60 Minutes and figured out why. But, on behalf of all those Australians, I urge, I demand, government MPs to stop, to put down the partisan cudgels and talking points and ask themselves: How would you feel if this was you? How would you feel if this was your child? Is this right? Is it fair? Is it just to treat Australians in this way? And if the quiet voice inside says, 'No,' then do something—speak to the minister, do it quietly, do it loudly, do it in your party room. But let's work together to force change and fix this mess. Let these prospective marriage visa holders come to Australia for their wedding. Clear the backlog of partner visas, and let Australians who are in love be reunited with their partners. It's not too much to ask.

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