Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a third time.

This means that the bill is now passed in the Senate. Since the bill has already been passed in the House of Representatives, the bill will now become law.

The main idea of the bill is to ensure that asylum seekers who unlawfully arrive anywhere in Australia are subject to the same regional processing arrangements as asylum seekers who arrive at an excised offshore place such as Christmas Island.

Background of the Bill

This bill was introduced in response to a report by the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers, particularly Recommendation 14 which states that: "the Migration Act 1958 be amended so that arrival anywhere on Australia by irregular maritime means will not provide individuals with a different lawful status than those who arrive in an excise offshore place".(Read the full report here. )

By implementing this recommendation, the bill extends the excision regime that was introduced in 2001 following the Tampa affair. That regime provides that asylum seekers who arrive in Australia at excised offshore places are unable to apply for protection visas (in effect, refugee status under Australian law) unless the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship decides it is in the public interest that they do so. The effect of this bill will be to extend the excision provisions to the whole country.(More information on the Migration Amendment (Unauthorised Maritime Arrivals and Other Measures) Bill 2012 is available on the bills digest (680 KB). Also see an ABC news report explaining the effect of this bill here.)

This means that all asylum seekers arriving by boat in either mainland Australia or an offshore Australian territory that has been excised are unable to apply for protection visas and will be sent to regional processing countries (currently Papua New Guinea and Nauru) for the processing of their refugee claims. The rationale behind this legislation is the need to discourage asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat because of the dangers involved.

References

Votes Passed by a modest majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 0 Yes 9 No
Richard Di Natale Victoria No
Sarah Hanson-Young SA No
Scott Ludlam WA No
Christine Milne Tasmania No
Lee Rhiannon NSW No
Rachel Siewert WA No
Larissa Waters Queensland No
Peter Whish-Wilson Tasmania No
Penny Wright SA No
Australian Labor Party (53% turnout) 16 Yes 0 No
Catryna Bilyk Tasmania Yes
Doug Cameron NSW Yes
Jacinta Collins Victoria Yes
Trish Crossin NT Yes
Don Farrell SA Yes
David Feeney Victoria Yes
Alex Gallacher SA Yes
Joe Ludwig Queensland Yes
Kate Lundy ACT Yes
Anne McEwen SA Yes
Claire Moore Queensland Yes
Louise Pratt WA Yes
Lisa Singh Tasmania Yes
Glenn Sterle WA Yes
Lin Thorp Tasmania Yes
Anne Urquhart Tasmania Yes
Mark Bishop WA Absent
Carol Brown Tasmania Absent
Bob Carr NSW Absent
Kim Carr Victoria Absent
Stephen Conroy Victoria Absent
John Faulkner NSW Absent
Mark Furner Queensland Absent
Sue Lines WA Absent
Gavin Marshall Victoria Absent
Jan McLucas Queensland Absent
Helen Polley Tasmania Absent
Ursula Stephens NSW Absent
Matt Thistlethwaite NSW Absent
Penny Wong SA Absent
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party Absent
John Madigan Victoria Democratic Labor Party No
Stephen Parry Tasmania Deputy President Yes
Nick Xenophon SA Independent Yes
Liberal Party (30% turnout) 8 Yes 0 No
Christopher Back WA Yes
Michaelia Cash WA Yes
Sean Edwards SA Yes
Mitch Fifield Victoria Yes
Bill Heffernan NSW Yes
Helen Kroger Victoria Yes
Anne Ruston SA Yes
Dean Smith WA Yes
Eric Abetz Tasmania Absent
Cory Bernardi SA Absent
Simon Birmingham SA Absent
Sue Boyce Queensland Absent
George Brandis Queensland Absent
David Bushby Tasmania Absent
Richard Colbeck Tasmania Absent
Mathias Cormann WA Absent
Alan Eggleston WA Absent
David Fawcett SA Absent
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW Absent
Gary Humphries ACT Absent
David Johnston WA Absent
Ian Macdonald Queensland Absent
Brett Mason Queensland Absent
Marise Payne NSW Absent
Michael Ronaldson Victoria Absent
Scott Ryan Victoria Absent
Arthur Sinodinos NSW Absent
National Party (20% turnout) 1 Yes 0 No
Bridget McKenzie Victoria Yes
Ron Boswell Queensland Absent
Barnaby Joyce Queensland Absent
Fiona Nash NSW Absent
John Williams NSW Absent
John Hogg Queensland President Yes
Totals (50% turnout) 28 Yes – 10 No