Urgent Debates Declined — Refugee Quota—Increase

I have received a letter from Andrew Little seeking to debate, under Standing Order 389, the announcement of the decision to increase the refugee quota to 1,000. This is a particular case of recent occurrence involving ministerial responsibility. The business of the House should not be set aside just because an announcement has been made, even though it may be important. There must be such an element of urgency that the matter must take precedence over other business. Concern has been expressed at the level of the increase in the quota, which comes into force in 2018.

The Estimates debate must be held before the end of August and that provides an opportunity to debate the economic and infrastructure sector, which includes immigration and refugee resettlement. Because the policy does not take effect until 2018, there will be several other wide-ranging debates that provide opportunities to address this issue. For example, there will be a debate on the Prime Minister’s statement and another Budget debate before the policy comes into force. On that basis, I cannot accept that the matter requires the urgent attention of the House, despite its importance. The application is, therefore, declined.