Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. On 8 November, the High Court ruled in the case of NZYQ, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs and others. It was a decision which was made against the arguments that were put forward by the Commonwealth government. The consequence of the decision was the release of the individual referred to in the case along with 83 other individuals into the community. It is fair to say that, since the moment of the High Court's decision, there has been a significant degree, understandably, of anxiety within the community about the release of these individuals into the community, given the nature of offences that many of these individuals had committed at points in time in their lives. The government, in releasing those individuals, put them on bridging visas, where there were strict conditions. But we made clear that we would look at every option available to us, including legislative options. This morning, we introduced into the parliament the Migration Amendment (Bridging Visa Conditions) Bill 2023. This represented the most legally robust proposition, which would put forward the strictest conditions—as the government saw it—in respect of these 84 individuals.

Since then, we have been working cooperatively with the opposition around amendments to this piece of legislation. I want to say upfront that I commend the Leader of the Opposition and thank him for the spirit in which he has worked with the government in relation to amending this legislation. I want to say that there are six amendments that the opposition has put forward: the first is in relation to making curfews and electronic monitoring conditions mandatory, not discretionary; the second is requiring visa holders not to perform work or participate in any regular organised activity that involves contact with children; the third is requiring visa holders not to go within 150 metres of a school, childcare centre or daycare centre; the fourth is ensuring that each day of a breach of a visa condition will be treated as a separate offence; the fifth is, if there is a visa holder who has been convicted of an offence involving violence or sexual assault, allowing the minister to put in place a no-contact condition in respect of that individual; and the sixth is to establish mandatory minimum sentences in respect of those that breach this bill. The government agrees with these amendments in principle and is working with the opposition to establish the precise amendments that will be put to the bill in the other place.

The basis on which we are doing this is that we are in a position where this must be resolved immediately. So this has been done on the basis that it passes this parliament today—it passes the Senate this afternoon and passes this House later this evening. This has been a matter of controversy and political debate in the public and, indeed, in this chamber.

But I do want to say that, despite that, what we have seen in the last few hours in the way in which we have cooperated across the aisle demonstrates that, notwithstanding differences and debate, Australians can look to their political leaders and their legislators as people who will act in their interests and work together to keep the community safe. I believe that everyone who has been elected to this parliament comes here with the sincerity of representing the national interest. Central to that is maintaining the safety of the community. What we have been able to agree on today is an embodiment of that spirit on behalf of all of us.

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