Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will not keep the chamber long. I can quite clearly see where the numbers are on these amendments. It is a genuine concern. We do have a fantastic country, and we need to make sure that it stays that way. It is a principle for me. There are people who do the wrong thing and who can maybe get around the immigration system. They come here, overstay and then marry an Australian, and all of a sudden you wipe off their debt. To me it opens up the issue of jumping the queue.

I have said my piece. That is the genuine concern that I have. I also have a genuine concern about refugees and that is why I make it quite clear that I support refugees having their debts absolutely wiped. I think that is the fair and decent thing to do. But, when it comes to the other categories, I think there is a real problem when people have not done the right thing. Maybe they marry someone here and all of a sudden their debt is wiped. That is a real concern, and it would be of concern to most Australians if they really knew about it. I can understand the complexities and that it may capture some others, but it is a real problem. I will leave if there because I know where the votes are.

Question negatived.