Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hanson-Young for her second supplementary question. As I have indicated in the earlier answer, there are, as you have indicated, some 900, which is about 15 per cent of the total eligible to apply for a visa, awaiting the outcome of ASIO’s advice to DIAC as to whether the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship will agree to allow them to apply for a visa. They have not got a visa at this stage, so they still have not completed the process. However, what I indicated is that, in terms of ensuring that we can reduce the processing time, it is clear that ASIO and DIAC are implementing changes to refine the process. There is no time limit, as I am advised, and I will check with the Attorney-General to ensure that this still remains the case. But clearly the difficulty always is that, because of the time lag sometimes for ASIO to get the information— (Time expired)