Immigration Bill

The debate on Part 12 includes schedules 3, 4, and 5.

I do not know what my whip thinks, but I am getting the sense that we might finish the Committee stage of the Immigration Bill at, or a minute or two before, 6 o’clock, so I do not really want to spend a lot of time on this part. But I will say that one of the features of Part 12 is that it has been completely rewritten, and most of Part 12 of the bill as introduced has been struck out. I suppose, therefore, it is a good time for me to say once more that this legislation, which was reported back from the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee 15 months ago, was subject to the most extraordinary examination by the select committee members. I was not one of them. I was not doing select committee work back then—

💬 Paul Quinn: Higher elevation.

Yes. But the chair, the Hon Mark Gosche—a pretty experienced politician who is no longer with us, unfortunately—and the members of the select committee put in the hours. I think it is time to reflect on the hours that were put in. The result is legislation that has bipartisan support, despite the fact that the select committee members argued and grizzled about all sorts of things, and despite the fact that the Minister of Immigration has subsequently come up with a particularly large Supplementary Order Paper. We have had the opportunity to go through that Supplementary Order Paper with the Minister’s officials whilst in Opposition, and I again thank the Minister, the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman, for that courtesy. It has meant that this huge piece of legislation has been able to make its way through the Committee stage reasonably quickly. I say “huge” because it is more than 500 pages.

I will sit down in 30 seconds, but I record for the Committee once more that this Immigration Bill went through a fine select committee process and was chaired by a fine former member of this House.

The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 32 in the name of the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman to Part 12 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.