The Morrison Government, with the support of the ALP, last night passed damaging and unnecessary laws in the lower house, that would give the Immigration Minister more power to cancel visas and deport people who live in Australia.  

Labor voted with the government to pass the Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2021 despite its comments that the bill was seriously flawed and unnecessary in light of the government’s existing powers.  

Parliament’s own Human Rights Committee, chaired by Nationals MP Anne Webster, reported in December that it is “not clear that there is a ‘pressing and substantial need’ for the measures” in the bill. 

It is unclear if the bill will be debated in the Senate in March in the two remaining Senate sittings days before the Federal election. 

Scott Cosgriff, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre said; 

“This was a shameful and deliberate attempt by the Morrison Government to demonise migrants and refugees as an election strategy. Parliament should not waste another minute on it. 

“The bill would allow more people to be ripped away from their families, locked up in detention centres and deported to a country that is not their home, even when they have lived in Australia for decades.   

“The ALP and the senate crossbench need to reject these unnecessary and harmful laws just as they did last year. 

“Instead of playing politics with people’s lives in an attempt to divide and distract, the Morrison Government should focus on fixing the many failures of immigration detention. The first step should be to release the refugees it continues to unnecessarily keep in detention centres, and allow them to rebuild their lives in safety.” 

Media contact:

Alex Sheehy, Media and Communications Manager, 0485 864 320, alex.sheehy@hrlc.org.au