Senate debates

Wednesday, 4 December 2019

Motions

New Skilled Regional Visas (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019

4:02 pm

Photo of Anne UrquhartAnne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Keneally, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) on 16 November 2019, applications opened for two new skilled regional visas – the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494),

  (ii) the New Skilled Regional Visa (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019 (the Bill) is an important piece of legislation which would ensure that 'holders of these provisional skilled regional visas will have the same access to welfare payments and government services as permanent visa holders where eligible',

  (iii) the Bill was introduced by the Federal Government into the House of Representatives on 31 July 2019,

  (iv) the Bill passed the House of Representatives on 14 October 2019, and was introduced in the Senate on 17 October 2019, and

  (v) to date, the Bill has remained without debate in the Senate for nearly two months;

(b) condemns the Federal Government for:

  (i) failing both new Australians and our rural and regional communities through their mismanagement of their limited legislative agenda, and

  (ii) prioritising the privatisation of Australia's visa processing system over appropriately supporting current visa holders and the communities that they now call home; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to properly consider and debate the New Skilled Regional Visas (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019, as a matter of urgency.

Question agreed to.