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senate vote 2024-08-14#9
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2024-08-17 13:25:14
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Title
Description
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- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2) to disallow the [Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024](https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2024L00790/asmade/text), which means they will remain in power. The motion was introduced by NSW Senator [David Shoebridge](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/nsw/david_shoebridge) (Greens).
- ### Motion text
- > *That the Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024, made under the Migration Act 1958, be disallowed [F2024L00790].*
- ### What do these regulations do?
- According to the regulation's [explanatory memorandum](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2):
- > *The Migration Act 1958 (the Migration Act) is an Act relating to the entry into, and presence in, Australia of aliens, and the departure or deportation from Australia of aliens and certain other persons.*
- >
- > *Subsection 504(1) of the Migration Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Migration Act, prescribing matters required or permitted to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Migration Act.*
- >
- > *Subsection 45B(1) of the Migration Act provides that the amount of the visa application charge (VAC) is the amount, not exceeding the VAC limit, prescribed by the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) in relation to the visa application. The VAC limit is calculated with reference to sections 5 and 6 of the Migration (Visa Application) Charge Act 1997 (the VAC Act).*
- >
- > *The purpose of the Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024 (the Amendment Regulations) is to amend the Migration Regulations to implement the annual indexation of VACs in line with the forecast Consumer Price Index (CPI) and rounded to the nearest $5.*
- Senator Shoebridge [argued that](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2):
> *The Labor government is basically using multicultural diaspora communities in this country as cash cows. It is squeezing money from families trying to build a life here and from students trying to get an education, only to turn around and slap them in the face.*- > *The Labor government is basically using multicultural diaspora communities in this country as cash cows. It is squeezing money from families trying to build a life here and from students trying to get an education, only to turn around and slap them in the face.*
- #### Error in this record (as of 17/08/2024)
- Note that this record currently lists West Australian Senator [Fatima Payman](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/wa/fatima_payman) as a rebel voter, but this is inaccurate as Senator Payman is no longer part of the Labor Party and is now an Independent.
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senate vote 2024-08-14#9
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2024-08-17 13:23:26
|
Title
Regulations and Determinations - Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024 - Disallowance- Regulations and Determinations - Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024 - Disallow
Description
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- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2) to disallow the [Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024](https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2024L00790/asmade/text), which means they will remain in power. The motion was introduced by NSW Senator [David Shoebridge](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/nsw/david_shoebridge) (Greens).
- ### Motion text
- > *That the Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024, made under the Migration Act 1958, be disallowed [F2024L00790].*
- ### What do these regulations do?
- According to the regulation's [explanatory memorandum](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2):
- > *The Migration Act 1958 (the Migration Act) is an Act relating to the entry into, and presence in, Australia of aliens, and the departure or deportation from Australia of aliens and certain other persons.*
- >
- > *Subsection 504(1) of the Migration Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Migration Act, prescribing matters required or permitted to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Migration Act.*
- >
- > *Subsection 45B(1) of the Migration Act provides that the amount of the visa application charge (VAC) is the amount, not exceeding the VAC limit, prescribed by the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) in relation to the visa application. The VAC limit is calculated with reference to sections 5 and 6 of the Migration (Visa Application) Charge Act 1997 (the VAC Act).*
- >
- > *The purpose of the Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024 (the Amendment Regulations) is to amend the Migration Regulations to implement the annual indexation of VACs in line with the forecast Consumer Price Index (CPI) and rounded to the nearest $5.*
- Senator Shoebridge [argued that](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2):
> *The Labor government is basically using multicultural diaspora communities in this country as cash cows. It is squeezing money from families trying to build a life here and from students trying to get an education, only to turn around and slap them in the face.*- > *The Labor government is basically using multicultural diaspora communities in this country as cash cows. It is squeezing money from families trying to build a life here and from students trying to get an education, only to turn around and slap them in the face.*
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senate vote 2024-08-14#9
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2024-08-17 13:22:28
|
Title
Regulations and Determinations — Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024; Disallowance- Regulations and Determinations - Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024 - Disallowance
Description
<p class="speaker">David Shoebridge</p><p>I move:</p>-
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2) to disallow the [Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024](https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2024L00790/asmade/text), which means they will remain in power. The motion was introduced by NSW Senator [David Shoebridge](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/nsw/david_shoebridge) (Greens).
- ### Motion text
- > *That the Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024, made under the Migration Act 1958, be disallowed [F2024L00790].*
- ### What do these regulations do?
- According to the regulation's [explanatory memorandum](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2):
- > *The Migration Act 1958 (the Migration Act) is an Act relating to the entry into, and presence in, Australia of aliens, and the departure or deportation from Australia of aliens and certain other persons.*
- >
- > *Subsection 504(1) of the Migration Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Migration Act, prescribing matters required or permitted to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Migration Act.*
- >
- > *Subsection 45B(1) of the Migration Act provides that the amount of the visa application charge (VAC) is the amount, not exceeding the VAC limit, prescribed by the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) in relation to the visa application. The VAC limit is calculated with reference to sections 5 and 6 of the Migration (Visa Application) Charge Act 1997 (the VAC Act).*
- >
- > *The purpose of the Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024 (the Amendment Regulations) is to amend the Migration Regulations to implement the annual indexation of VACs in line with the forecast Consumer Price Index (CPI) and rounded to the nearest $5.*
- Senator Shoebridge [argued that](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-08-14.172.2):
- > *The Labor government is basically using multicultural diaspora communities in this country as cash cows. It is squeezing money from families trying to build a life here and from students trying to get an education, only to turn around and slap them in the face.*
<p class="italic">That the Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024, made under the <i>Migration Act 1958</i>, be disallowed [F2024L00790].</p><p>The Labor government is basically using multicultural diaspora communities in this country as cash cows. It is squeezing money from families trying to build a life here and from students trying to get an education, only to turn around and slap them in the face. If you reduce the people who come to Australia and build their lives and communities here to a dollar figure, they become expendable and then they become dehumanised and then it's a pathway towards breakdown in social cohesion. But that's what Labor is doing—gouging hundreds of millions of dollars more from people seeking a better life in Australia than from multinational fossil fuel corporations that export our wealth and drive climate chaos.</p><p>Last year the Labor government took some $3.3 billion in visa fees, and they're predicting, in the budget papers, that that will ramp up to $4.4 billion by 2027-28. That is $4.4 billion from people seeking to come here to be part of a family or to perform work. That is $4.4 billion from multicultural communities. And how much are they taking through the major bank levy? $1.6 billion. How much is Labor taking through the luxury car tax? $1.3 billion. How much through the petroleum resource rent tax? $1.1 billion. Vastly more is being gouged out of multicultural Australia through these visa fee increases than through those three tax streams combined.</p><p>People trying to get their parents a visa to Australia can pay over $40,000 in fees to bring mum and dad over, to complete the family. Some of the waiting lists and times are disgraceful. It can take 10, 20 or sometimes 30 years to bring your parents to the country. It's a tragic reality for many families that their parents die on the waiting list before they can be brought to this country—and they've paid tens and tens of thousands of dollars for it. That's Labor's approach to visas and immigration. It is a disgraceful, disrespectful policy.</p><p>In that regard, Labor is continuing with almost exactly the policy settings given to them by the coalition. I don't want to let the coalition off the hook. The coalition created this horrible, dehumanising mess with the price gouging of multicultural communities. But the real tragedy here is Labor has come in and doubled down on it. The reason we're bringing forward this disallowance motion is Labor has ramped up so many visa fees. The worst of it is the extraordinary fee increases they're proposing for students; my colleague Senator Faruqi will deal with that in detail, as she has publicly. She has proudly made the case against those appalling attacks from the Albanese government.</p><p>Let me repeat: if you are trying to get an aged-parent visa—that is the visa you specifically get when your mum and dad are in their last years and you're trying to look after them and they may not have support in the country they're currently living in; the bulk of their family may be here. For brothers and sisters who come together to bring their parents to the country for their last few years, it costs tens of thousands of dollars and they face waiting times that, we're told in answers to questions on notice, are in the order of 29 years. That's not a humane system. That's not a human system. That's a brutal price gouge from multicultural Australia. You would have thought the extremely high fees that this government is gouging from migrant communities would help with the processing, the numbers and the times, but you'd be wrong.</p><p>Since 2020-21, the number of staff has barely moved and people are being charged more. There are no additional staff and the timeframes are extending. It's like a double whammy, a double insult, to multicultural Australia. The government has said that, apart from the massive increases in student fees, 'Don't worry, the rest of these changes only match CPI.' We've run the calculator over these numbers, and that's plainly untrue. This Labor government is putting above-CPI increases on visa charges like for the orphan relative visa—to bring out an orphaned child. With these changes, the cost of that visa has gone well above the CPI increase.</p><p>What government wants to profit from orphaned children? Answer: the Albanese government. Even the explanatory memorandum from this department is not true and can't be trusted. I ask again: what government wants to price-gouge off orphaned children? I give you the answer again. The Albanese Labor government is doing that. Is there any wonder we're moving to disallow these regulations?</p><p>I look forward to seeing how the government justifies this attack on something that's so important to a successful multicultural community—the ability for families to be brought together in this country. It's a genuine pathway for Mum and Dad to come here and complete the family or to bring that child that doesn't have parents anymore into an extended family to get the love and support that they need. Please explain how you justify the price gouging of these families and these communities. Please tell us why this is right, because I can't understand it and I know that the communities I'm out talking to in my home state—in places like Western Sydney—and around this country, can't understand it. They see the delays, the fees, the costs, the disrespect and the way in which they never get an answer from the department. Their application goes in. It could have gone in last century and they still wouldn't be getting answers. Their emails are not returned. Their phone calls aren't answered. There's no-one to talk to. Please explain how that works.</p><p>I commend the motion to the chamber and I commend the spirit of multiculturalism to the Labor government. It's not just about turning up at a festival and eating some novel food; it's about actually listening to what multicultural communities are saying. Listen to what families are telling you and answer with some decency and humanity. Don't gouge more out of these communities than you do out of resource giants or the luxury car tax. Be a government with a human face.</p> <p class="speaker">Anne Urquhart</p><p>The government does not support this disallowance motion. The Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2024 provide for the regular indexation of visa application fees and for a one-off increase in the fee for student visas from $710 to $1,600. This increase reflects the increasing value of education in Australia and reflects the Albanese government's commitment to restoring integrity in the international education sector.</p><p>The increase will also help fund a number of important initiatives in education and migration, including measures recommended by the Universities Accord: making HECS fairer and delivering paid prac and fee-free uni-ready courses. Measures in the vocational education and training sector include financial support for apprentices and their employers and the ongoing implementation of the migration strategy.</p> <p class="speaker">Claire Chandler</p><p>On behalf of the opposition I want to place on record that we will not be supporting the disallowance motion of Senator Shoebridge this afternoon. As Senator Urquhart has already outlined, the proposed motion would disallow 199 visa fee increases from the regular indexation of visa fees, and all but one have gone up a small amount.</p><p>But I did want to draw the attention of those in the chamber to the fact that there was a significant fee increase to one visa this year. The government increased the fee for international students from $710,000 to $1,600 on 1 July 2024.</p> <p class="speaker">Deborah O'Neill</p><p>Senator Chandler, I think you might need to reread that number into the record. It's $710—</p> <p class="speaker">Claire Chandler</p><p>Yes—$710 was increased to $1,600 on 1 July. Goodness me! This is why I'm not I'm government, because I would have just made visas incredibly expensive! Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy President. As I said, the government increased the fee for international students from $710—</p> <p class="speaker">Anne Urquhart</p><p>That's what I said.</p> <p class="speaker">Claire Chandler</p><p>exactly what you said, Senator Urquhart—to $1,600 on 1 July 2024.</p><p>It's worth noting that the government did not give prior notice of this fee increase and that there hasn't been an explanation for this increase made available to the media. This occurred when the then Minister for Home Affairs, Ms O'Neil; the then Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Mr Giles; as well as the Minister for Education and the Minister for Skills and Training put out a media release on Monday 1 July 2024 announcing the increase.</p><p>In contrast to this, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dutton, said in his budget reply speech that, when in government, we:</p><p class="italic">… will enhance the integrity of the student visa program by introducing a tiered approach to increasing the student visa application fee and applying it to foreign students who change providers.</p><p>I think there is a very clear contrast between what the current opposition will do when in government and what is occurring in the government currently. We want to front up and tell the Australian public what we intend to do, and that is, as I said, in stark contrast to the government, who put out a media release on the day that the indexation occurred by a significant amount, from $710 to $1,600, and won't then front the media to explain that increase or go to the public to explain their policy.</p><p>As I said, on behalf of the opposition, we will not be supporting Senator Shoebridge's disallowance motion here this afternoon.</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
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