Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Senator Vanstone. By the way, I congratulate the minister on being the longest-serving minister in both houses and in both parties as of Monday. That is very well done. Will the minister inform the Senate of the important border security initiatives being taken by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs in support of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games?

Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question and for his good wishes. I remind senators that I never open birthday presents until the day of my birthday. It is not a good idea to jump the gun, but I am not expecting to get run over before next week. In any event, the question was about the preparation for the Commonwealth Games. DIMA staff have been working very hard with officials and volunteers in Victoria and around Australia to help with the games hosting. What we have tried to do is ensure seamless and efficient processing of the huge number of games family members and visitors that are coming in while ensuring at the same time our ability to detect overstayers and visa irregularities.

DIMA has been working with the games organising committee over the last year and a half to ensure that smooth and efficient arrival happens. Nine and a half thousand Commonwealth Games family members will be coming to Australia for the games. That includes the athletes, their coaches and officials of the 71 nations of the Commonwealth, and obviously there are coaches and officials who are not necessarily members of the Commonwealth but citizens of other countries. Already over 700 family members have arrived. DIMA staff are processing a very diverse group of games entrants. For example, there is a Botswana boxing coach from Belarus born in the Russian Federation, a United States doctor with the Canadian team and IOC officials from Hungary with the games organising committee.

We have been using electronic visas—state-of-the-art technology—so that most of the entrants will simply pass over their passports which, when scanned, will show a Commonwealth Games travel authority inside. Some countries do not have the technology which allows that to be done in their country, and we will obviously have visa labels in those. Overseas, we have been working hard. We have an officer currently based in Africa covering a diverse range of countries, from Mauritius to Sierra Leone, to ensure that those Commonwealth Games teams have as smooth an entry into Australia as possible. Another DIMA officer—who must have got the world’s best gig!—has been meeting with many Caribbean nations taking part in the games to ensure awareness of Australia’s requirements for entry. Before members opposite note that down for a Senate estimates question, I just say that I will have the answers on that—who got that gig, how they got it, how much it cost and whether it was really worth it. I certainly hope it was. DIMA also have an officer based in Los Angeles providing support to the many Caribbean nations who apparently come to Australia through Los Angeles.

Overseas staff have been working very hard to get the travel data of teams before they go and be there at the airport to make sure they have all their documentation in order and therefore have a smooth entry into Australia. We have our airline liaison officer network overseas that is playing a crucial role. The efforts are of course going to be redoubled, with staff working pretty much around the clock in places like Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Johannesburg to ensure a smooth arrival for these teams. We have extra staff in the Victorian state office. They obviously have a tremendous role. We have created a games response team ready to assist at any hour with any problems that relate to migration issues. Counter staff numbers have been boosted as well.

In addition to all the athletes and everyone else coming, there are performers coming for the cultural festival—for example, a children’s choir from Tanzania, a brass band from India, traditional musicians from Ghana and a steel drum player from Trinidad and Tobago who is hailed as the Paganini of the Pans. I can assure you that DIMA has been doing everything it can to make sure anybody who comes to Australia has a very seamless entry into Australia, and we will be doing our best to ensure that they all have a seamless exit as well.