Subjects: Visa Revalidation Bill, Citizenship, US resettlement of refugees from Nauru and PNG, Prime Minister comments in Parliament.
E&EO…………………………………………………………………………………………..
DAVID SPEERS:
The Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is with me now. So what is Labor actually concerned about here? What powers will this Bill give you?
PETER DUTTON:
David, if you want to look at a rolled gold stunt this is it. I mean, this is unbelievable. On Sunday the Shadow Minister said to me, 'look, we've got no problem with the Bill; there's a disallowance that we might move a motion to amend, or might move an amendment, would you support it?' I said 'we'll have a look at it and come back to you'. I had no other problems with the Bill - nothing expressed whatsoever.
Obviously what has happened here is Shayne Neumann has been rolled in the Caucus earlier this week and they've done a complete backflip.
There was a Labor Party inquiry into this, or a Senate inquiry which included …
DAVID SPEERS:
…and that didn't raise concerns?
PETER DUTTON:
……didn't raise it.
The recommendation was that this Bill should be passed.
So to put into context what we're doing here, we're, with a 10 year visitor visa for people from China, allowing people hopefully to come in on multiple occasions as visitors over that 10 year period because we want to boost tourism, jobs, et cetera, and we're saying if peoples' circumstances change over the course of that 10 years then we want to reserve the right to stop them essentially from coming.
And equally if there is, for example, in China people with this visa, that have a valid visa to come to Australia, if there's an Ebola outbreak or a bird flu, we can essentially stop people with that visa category coming into Australia.
Now, they've tried to turn that into something that it's not …
DAVID SPEERS:
…a Trump-style immigration …
PETER DUTTON:
… it's a stunt. It's a distraction from Bill Shorten's whipping in the Parliament yesterday.
DAVID SPEERS:
Would the legislation - I get that's what it's intended to do - but would it also give you any powers to review visa classes based on the nationality of …
PETER DUTTON:
…no, only those - those that are proscribed under this particular Act …
DAVID SPEERS:
…so it's only those 10 year China visa holders?
PETER DUTTON:
And we might negotiate with India, for example, to have a 10 year visa.
DAVID SPEERS:
Right, and it's only those ones?
PETER DUTTON:
Yes, because the modern age, David, means that if people have got biometrics taken and we can anchor their identity, you can have a travel document for a longer period of time.
And we're competing with the Europeans, with the Americans on tourist numbers, and this is a stunt. I mean, it's a pretty serious issue actually, because it's a national security Bill effectively, and you've got Labor playing political stunts. Now, as I say, it's clear and plain to everybody here that Mr Neumann got rolled in the caucus.
He's not asked one question in the Parliament today and he's put out a press release this afternoon to say, you know, we've forgotten about all the other claims we made about the Trump stuff; we're now saying that this is affecting Chinese tourism numbers coming into Australia. It is a complete debacle.
DAVID SPEERS:
Let me ask you though for the record, would you support Australia or indeed the Minister having the power to ban certain visa-holders based on their nationality, on where they're born - Syrians for example.
PETER DUTTON:
No, based on threat. I mean based on threat. We're blind to the nationality, the race, the creed, but if somebody poses a threat we're not going to allow them into this country.
DAVID SPEERS:
So the sort of things Donald Trump has done is not something you would do?
PETER DUTTON:
…..and this Bill was introduced…
….absolutely. In terms of your question about whether you proscribe particular - somebody by religion – our policy which has been longstanding, that has served us well, is that we assess the threat.
This Bill was introduced in October and there was a Senate inquiry, as I said, last year - it raised no concerns about it.
DAVID SPEERS:
Can I ask you about a couple of other things?
You've been looking at a tougher citizenship test for a period now of those wanting to become Australian citizens with a greater focus, as you've put it, on willingness to integrate – learn English, get a job and so on. Where is that process up to now?
PETER DUTTON:
We're working through that. So we've obviously got a security intelligence aspect to it as well, so we're having a look at the practical way that it might work and then if it's something we decide to proceed with we'll make an announcement.
But ultimately it says that we want people to share Australian values. If you want to live in this country you need to abide by the law and if you're not going to abide by the law, or you're not going to work if you've got a capacity to work, if you're going to spend your time on welfare, or your kids are involved in Apex gangs in Victoria for instance, then really we need to question whether that person is the best possible citizen.
DAVID SPEERS:
Yeah, at the moment there's a 20 question, random question test that asks you things about Don Bradman and so on. You're talking here about willingness to embrace Australian values, willingness to work.
Most people would say, you know, I'm willing to work, wouldn't they? Why do you need to ask that question?
PETER DUTTON:
No, so we move away, in my judgement, we move away from a Q&A as it operates at the moment, sort of a multi-choice-type test on Australiana-type topics, which is important, but we're talking about somebody becoming an Australian citizen.
We move away from that, in my judgement, to something which is more objective and that is that we look at the conduct of people over the preceding three or four years of their residency here, or in some cases potentially you could look at peoples' conduct in another country before they applied for permanent residency to come here.
DAVID SPEERS:
What, their criminal record, or …
PETER DUTTON:
… well we do that now, but it could go beyond that. We could look at whether or not somebody has been involved in an outlaw motorcycle gang, we could look at whether somebody has been involved, for example, in domestic violence, we could look at whether or not somebody had children that were of school age, but had not attended school for extended periods over that preceding three or four years.
There are different tests that you could apply.
DAVID SPEERS:
So if your kids didn't go to school you may not be able to become an Australian citizen?
PETER DUTTON:
Well it could be part of a bigger picture that you could paint to say if your kids are breaking the law, if they're involved in gang violence, if members of your family have been involved in distributing drugs. I mean, it's a complete picture that we need to look at and I don't think we should be ashamed, David, in this country to say that we are a great country, we are built on migration, people for generations have come here, worked hard, and the vast majority do the right thing.
There are 65 million people around the world that would set up in Australia tomorrow and I don't think we should be embarrassed to say that we want the best of those people.
DAVID SPEERS:
And if you don't speak English?
PETER DUTTON:
Well I think there are people that would suggest that over a period of time if your English language doesn't improve, that that goes to the question of integration or the ability to work or to work with your community or with your school or whatever the case might be.
So there are different aspects that we can look at and I think we can have a further discussion in due course about it, but that's where we're at at the moment.
DAVID SPEERS:
Well I'll look forward to seeing where that lands.
On Nauru, are the US officials currently processing the claims there of refugees? Are they doing the extreme vetting that Trump's talked about? Is that happening right now?
PETER DUTTON:
Well I saw a report only out a couple of hours ago from one of the other television networks talking about that somehow the checks had been suspended – that is false.
DAVID SPEERS:
So there's no pause at the moment?
PETER DUTTON:
No, no. So, there are my officials who are working in Washington with officials from State and from Homeland Security, going through each of those cases. So there are hundreds of cases for them to look through.
There will be further US representatives going onto Nauru at some stage in the near future. But that was always part of the phasing. So people are there for, they fly in for a certain period, conduct the checks, whatever they need to do, look at individual cases and then they were coming off for a break and then going back on.
So there's been no pause in it, that continues….. [indistinct].
DAVID SPEERS:
…no one's actually finished being process and been accepted yet by the US?
PETER DUTTON:
No. No, the checks are still underway.
DAVID SPEERS:
Now finally, my colleague Andrew Bolt has written today, I'm not sure if you saw his column in the paper.
PETER DUTTON:
I didn't see Andrew Bolt today.
DAVID SPEERS:
He wrote about the fact that in his view Malcolm Turnbull has to go. He canvasses a number of options, he gives you a biggest wrap. Let me just read it. The former policeman is down-to-earth, unflappable, and no prisoners in debates. And he says you are what the Liberals need.
PETER DUTTON:
Oh well, I think I've made it very clear as I did with Prime Minister Abbott that I support the leader and I do so without reservation.
If I didn't support the leader I'd resign from the Cabinet. I think Malcolm Turnbull is doing a good job. I think he deserves the strong support of all of us and that is exactly what we're doing.
It would be a disaster for our country to have Bill Shorten as Prime Minister, and so all of us that have the capacity to work hard with Malcolm Turnbull to support him to make sure that his Prime Ministership is a success, that's what we're all doing, and certainly I'm signed up to that cause.
DAVID SPEERS:
So there's no chatter going on that you're away of?
PETER DUTTON:
There's not, no.
DAVID SPEERS:
And did you enjoy his performance in the Parliament yesterday? It seems to have revved up a lot of troops.
PETER DUTTON:
I thought it was a good performance because it was based on fact.
I think people have this hesitation in their minds when they see Bill Shorten, hear him speak. They know that he speaks with a forked tongue. They know that there is just not something right about this guy and I think Malcolm went to that yesterday and certainly by the response I've had from my electorate supporters from around the country, overwhelming support for the Prime Minister.
DAVID SPEERS:
So it was a good idea to flick the switch to a bit more aggression in Parliament?
PETER DUTTON:
There's no sense standing in this game receiving blow after blow and not punching back. You need to call people out when they're fakes and frauds. I think Bill Shorten is that, and I think this is why Anthony Albanese is waiting eagerly in the wings. And I think if Anthony Albanese could pounce on Bill Shorten tomorrow, he would do it in a heartbeat.
DAVID SPEERS:
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, thank you very much for joining us this afternoon.