Summary

Edit

The majority voted in favour of a motion that the bill be read for a second time. This means that the majority agree with the main idea of the bill and that it can now be discussed in more detail. (Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through to become law here. )

Background to the bill

The bill makes a number of changes to the Migration Act 1958, including:

  • clarifying that it is the applicant and not the Minister who has the responsibility to specify all particulars of a protection claim and to provide sufficient evidence; (A protection claim is a claim for asylum that is made by asylum seekers.)
  • creating grounds to refuse a protection visa application when an applicant refuses or fails to establish their identity, nationality or citizenship, and does not have a reasonable explanation for doing so;
  • creating grounds to refuse a protection visa application when an applicant provides false documents to establish their identity or either destroys or discards identity evidence, or has caused that evidence to be destroyed or discarded;
  • clarifying that a family member of a protection visa holder cannot be granted a protection visa on the basis of being a family member if they apply after the initial visa has been granted;
  • providing that the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) must draw an unfavourable inference with regard to the credibility of claims or evidence that are raised for the first time before it if the review applicant has no reasonable explanation to justify why those claims and evidence were not raised before the primary decision was made by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection; and
  • clarifying Australia’s interpretation of the likelihood of harm and the types of harm necessary to engage Australia’s non-refoulement obligations.

(See the bills digest for more information about these and other changes made by the bill.)

Both the Labor Party and Greens Party have expressed concern about the changes made in this bill. (Read more about the position taken by the opposition in relation to this bill in the bills digest.)

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens No
Australian Labor Party (76% turnout) 0 Yes 42 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler No
Sharon Bird Cunningham No
Chris Bowen McMahon No
Gai Brodtmann Canberra No
Mark Butler Port Adelaide No
Terri Butler Griffith No
Anthony Byrne Holt No
Jim Chalmers Rankin No
Nick Champion Wakefield No
Lisa Chesters Bendigo No
Jason Clare Blaxland No
Sharon Claydon Newcastle No
Julie Collins Franklin No
Pat Conroy Charlton No
Justine Elliot Richmond No
Kate Ellis Adelaide No
Laurie Ferguson Werriwa No
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter No
Andrew Giles Scullin No
Gary Gray Brand No
Jill Hall Shortland No
Chris Hayes Fowler No
Ed Husic Chifley No
Catherine King Ballarat No
Jenny Macklin Jagajaga No
Richard Marles Corio No
Shayne Neumann Blair No
Brendan O'Connor Gorton No
Clare O'Neil Hotham No
Julie Owens Parramatta No
Melissa Parke Fremantle No
Graham Perrett Moreton No
Bernie Ripoll Oxley No
Amanda Rishworth Kingston No
Joanne Ryan Lalor No
Warren Snowdon Lingiari No
Wayne Swan Lilley No
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith No
Kelvin Thomson Wills No
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell No
Tim Watts Gellibrand No
Tony Zappia Makin No
Anna Burke Chisholm Absent
Tony Burke Watson Absent
Michael Danby Melbourne Ports Absent
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Absent
David Feeney Batman Absent
Alan Griffin Bruce Absent
Stephen Jones Throsby Absent
Andrew Leigh Fraser Absent
Alannah Mactiernan Perth Absent
Rob Mitchell McEwen Absent
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Absent
Michelle Rowland Greenway Absent
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Absent
Natasha Griggs Solomon Country Liberal Party Yes
Bruce Scott Maranoa Deputy Speaker Yes
Cathy McGowan Indi Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Denison Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal Party (89% turnout) 65 Yes 0 No
John Alexander Bennelong Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Kevin Andrews Menzies Yes
Bob Baldwin Paterson Yes
Bruce Billson Dunkley Yes
Jamie Briggs Mayo Yes
Mal Brough Fisher Yes
Scott Buchholz Wright Yes
David Coleman Banks Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Teresa Gambaro Brisbane Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Sarah Henderson Corangamite Yes
Peter Hendy Eden-Monaro Yes
Joe Hockey North Sydney Yes
Luke Howarth Petrie Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Eric Hutchinson Lyons Yes
Steve Irons Swan Yes
Ewen Jones Herbert Yes
Craig Kelly Hughes Yes
Andrew Laming Bowman Yes
Craig Laundy Reid Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Ian Macfarlane Groom Yes
Nola Marino Forrest Yes
Louise Markus Macquarie Yes
Russell Matheson Macarthur Yes
Karen McNamara Dobell Yes
Scott Morrison Cook Yes
Andrew Nikolic Bass Yes
Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins Yes
Tony Pasin Barker Yes
Christian Porter Pearce Yes
Jane Prentice Ryan Yes
Melissa Price Durack Yes
Christopher Pyne Sturt Yes
Rowan Ramsey Grey Yes
Don Randall Canning Yes
Andrew Robb Goldstein Yes
Stuart Robert Fadden Yes
Wyatt Roy Longman Yes
Philip Ruddock Berowra Yes
Fiona Scott Lindsay Yes
Luke Simpkins Cowan Yes
Tony Smith Casey Yes
Andrew Southcott Boothby Yes
Ann Sudmalis Gilmore Yes
Michael Sukkar Deakin Yes
Angus Taylor Hume Yes
Dan Tehan Wannon Yes
Alan Tudge Aston Yes
Malcolm Turnbull Wentworth Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Nickolas Varvaris Barton Yes
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Brett Whiteley Braddon Yes
Lucy Wicks Robertson Yes
Matt Williams Hindmarsh Yes
Rick Wilson O'Connor Yes
Jason Wood La Trobe Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
Tony Abbott Warringah Absent
Julie Bishop Curtin Absent
Russell Broadbent McMillan Absent
Steven Ciobo Moncrieff Absent
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Absent
Dennis Jensen Tangney Absent
Michael Keenan Stirling Absent
Sharman Stone Murray Absent
National Party (100% turnout) 14 Yes 0 No
Andrew Broad Mallee Yes
Darren Chester Gippsland Yes
George Christensen Dawson Yes
John Cobb Calare Yes
Mark Coulton Parkes Yes
David Gillespie Lyne Yes
Luke Hartsuyker Cowper Yes
Kevin Hogan Page Yes
Barnaby Joyce New England Yes
Michelle Landry Capricornia Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
Warren Truss Wide Bay Yes
Clive Palmer Fairfax Palmer United Party Absent
Bronwyn Bishop Mackellar Speaker Absent
Totals (84% turnout) 81 Yes – 45 No