Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

Well, they're coming in far quicker than they're deciding them, and it's a major issue in terms of the fact that they have all of these vacancies, as Senator Shoebridge alluded to. I thought the figure was a hundred, which is bad enough, but it may well be higher than that. There were some good members of the ART who lost their jobs when the AAT changed into the ART. There were really good members who were vindictively targeted and lost their jobs. They could have been deciding these cases. So we're in this situation.

The other point I want to make is something that Senator Shoebridge touched on, and to some extent it touches upon what Senator Lambie raised about veterans. Consider this: the Administrative Review Tribunal is there to provide administrative review of decisions in relation to migration, NDIS, social security and veterans matters. It's so important that all Australians have access to the Administrative Review Tribunal and get their matters heard as quickly as possible.