Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to coalition senators' questions.

Inadequate is how I would describe the Labor government's response to question 2, about the Administrative Review Tribunal overturning a decision on visa cancellation. The first job of any government is to keep its people safe, to protect its people and, mostly, its most vulnerable people. It should not be after harm; it should be to prevent harm. A preventive approach is what's necessary. I refer to the article in the Australian by Paul Garvey and its headline:

Man convicted of touching girl wins right to stay in Australia.

This article was about a Lebanese man who inappropriately touched a 15-year-old girl less than three weeks after arriving in Australia on a tourist visa. He's now won the right to remain in the country. The article states:

The Administrative Review Tribunal last week overturned the Albanese government's decision to cancel the partner visa held by 32-year-old Lucien Daher after taking into account the interests of his wife and three young children.

A reading of the report suggests the courageous girl, a 15-year-old girl, made it clear the advances by him were unwelcome, let alone unlawful. The reporting says that the tribunal took into account the protection and expectations of the Australian community and the upholding of the cancellation of his visa but gave weight to the strength of his ties to Australia and the best interests of his three children.

The ART ruled that it was a one-off:

The applicant has not reoffended and has matured by reason of his marriage and children. The applicant's life circumstances reflect stability, which provides a robust protective influence against recidivism and deterioration in the applicant's mental health.

I say, what about the protection of the victim-survivor? What about her life circumstances after this experience? What about stability for her? What about her, as a child, and what about her family? Victims-survivors should always be at the forefront. That shouldn't be negotiable, and we shouldn't have to think about that at all. This is just another example of the Labor government's incompetence. Australians saw that in the government's ability to prepare for and respond to the NZYQ cohort, and it's clear they have not learnt their lesson to do everything possible to protect Australians. When will this government stop falling asleep at the wheel when it comes to the security of Australians? Enough is enough. Australians expect their government to put the community safety ahead of everything else, yet we see time and time again examples where visa holders convicted of serious offences against children are allowed to remain in Australia. How is that even a thing? What about the child victim-survivor—a 15-year-old girl?

Labor turned this into something that appeared to be an attack on the coalition. The only entity that should be under attack here is the government. And attacking means making sure something is being done about it now. The priority must always be about protecting children and victims, not finding reasons to allow offenders to stay. There have been multiple controversial tribunal decisions overturning visa cancellations involving serious offenders in recent years, and it begs the question of what the government is actually doing. What are you doing to protect Australians not after the fact but before the fact? I look forward to hearing a minister come back into this chamber with an explanation not just of what's happened here but of what you will do about it. That's what's important to the Australian community—their safety, national safety and putting the community first. (Time expired)