Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

In broad terms there are a number of ways by which coercion can be provided. There are three classes. There is a class where the sponsor or the mischief the sponsor would indicate that they would seek to have some benefit to the sponsor: 'You'—the applicant—'will pay me a certain amount of money and I will provide the sponsorship.' It can be an existing sponsor. In my opening remarks I related to where an existing sponsor had a job or has work rights in this country, the sponsor can say, 'For a number of reasons I am able to breach my sponsorship or close off my sponsorship unless you continue to maintain or start paying funds' or some of the benefit to the employer. It may also be the case, and I suspect it is in a small number of cases, were a potential applicant offers funds to coerce a sponsor into ensuring that they provide the right sort of evidence so that the applicant for that visa class is successful. I hope that is of assistance, Senator. It is a broad range of the mischief that this legislation is trying to ameliorate.