Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed a new ministerial direction will be issued to deal with cases of visa cancellations.
The federal government has been under sustained criticism over the last fortnight, after revelations a direction issued by the immigration minister in January last year had resulted in convicted criminals being allowed to stay in Australia.
The direction had insisted immigration officials and tribunals take into account an individual’s ties to the community and their time spent living in Australia when considering whether to revoke or reinstate their visa.
One individual whose visa was reinstated now stands accused of murder in Brisbane.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has since cancelled that visa and ordered an urgent review of dozens of others.
“The only effective way of ensuring the tribunal members are making better decisions is to issue a new revised direction, which the minister will be doing,” Mr Albanese told Question Time.
“The new directive will ensure that the protection of the community outweighs any other consideration.”
The soon-to-be-superseded order known as Ministerial Direction 99 was signed in early 2023.
It was seen as a way to address complaints by successive New Zealand governments that criminals with Kiwi citizenship but few or no ties to NZ were being deported there.
The Coalition seized upon rulings by the Administrative Affairs Tribunal (AAT) showing the consequences of the direction, with the tribunal having reinstated the visas of convicted rapists, armed robbers, drug smugglers and people involved in kidnapping.
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