Opposition migrant services spokesman declares family interests in migration firm

The Coalition’s spokesman for migrant services has declared his family’s financial interests in a migration agency that helps people stay in Australia and overturn their visa refusals as his party wages an election fight over immigration.

Opposition frontbencher Jason Wood’s wife, Judy Cheung-Wood, is the half-owner and co-director of Melbourne-based firm Ferntree Migration, according to his register of interests and ASIC files. The company’s social media promotes cases where it has found a path through tight visa rules, while its website touts it as an expert advocate in the appeals tribunal.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and frontbencher Jason Wood on the campaign trail in Melbourne on Tuesday.Credit: James Brickwood

A Liberal Party spokesman, contacted on behalf of Wood and Ferntree Migration, said Wood had no involvement in the company and would appropriately manage any conflicts of interest if elected.

Wood, the opposition shadow minister for migrant services, multicultural affairs and community safety, has criticised post-pandemic immigration rates as they soared beyond the government’s projections each year.

But he has said Labor’s attempts to blame migration agents for booming international student arrivals were offensive and untrue.

He also oversaw the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority when he was an assistant minister during the previous Coalition government.

The revelations could cast doubt on the Coalition’s integrity in a tight election contest over immigration, as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton promises deeper cuts to migration but has not yet revealed policies or a formal target.

Wood updated his register of interests in December 2023 to declare his wife was a director and owned shares in immigration firm Ferntree Migration, four months after ASIC files were updated to show his wife owns 50 per cent of the company.

“Mr Wood completed an update to his register of interests detailing his wife’s directorship and shareholding in accordance with the rules, but due to an administrative error, it was submitted to the register outside the required timeframe,” a Liberal Party spokesperson said.

“Mr Wood’s wife’s business dealings are a matter for her, and he does not involve himself in the business.”

Ferntree Migration is co-owned by Cheung-Wood, a skincare entrepreneur, and Cathrine Burnett-Wake, a former Victorian state Liberal MP and experienced immigration lawyer who is the public face of the company.

“You can trust us to guide you through the appeal processes at the Migration and Refugee Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). With our vast experience in handling tribunal matters, we’re the ideal advocates for your migration journey,” its website says.

Another post says: “With our expert knowledge and meticulous approach, we navigate the complexities of the process so you don’t risk your prospects – refusals are easy to get nowadays, and once refused, it can make future visa applications very difficult.”

Social media posts say Ferntree Migration has helped clients secure “challenging” student visas in just over three months, beating the average processing time of six months. Another encouraged new clients to get in touch after the government introduced “significant changes to address what they refer to as ‘visa hopping’.”

One case study it promoted on social media involved securing a visa for a genuine student who would have typically been considered a “higher risk client”, while another explains how the company helped a client with an “unlawful status” to successfully secure a partner visa.

The company says it only takes up merit-based cases. “If a case doesn’t stand on solid ground, we won’t proceed. This professional integrity ensures that our clients only pursue applications with genuine promise,” the website says.

This masthead is not suggesting that Ferntree Migration’s business practices are improper or unlawful or that its owners have acted improperly.

Dutton has been highly critical of international students using appeal processes and legal advice to extend their stays in Australia as he campaigns against Labor’s migration record.

“They [students] obviously will be getting advice from lawyers in this space and others who have tested the system and found success and ultimately have stayed in Australia, or they have extended their stay,” Dutton said last year.

“I just think when you look at the detail, this is the modern version of the boat arrivals.”

Wood has also taken aim at Labor for failing to control student numbers.

“Under Labor, there are 80,000 student visa holders who are now on their third student visa or more – some are on an eighth, ninth or 10th student visa – as a backdoor way of staying in Australia,” he said in parliament last year.

But he rejected Labor’s focus on agents for driving students through the door. “The government has a deeply offensive and divisive false narrative that the growth in international students is basically driven by shonks or crooks. It is not that at all,” Wood said in parliament.

“There are immigration agents and education agents who’ve come to me who have been put under great stress and have even threatened to have their business closed down.”

A spokesperson for Wood said: “At all times, Mr Wood has complied with his obligations as a member of parliament and a member for the Dutton shadow ministry. Any conflict of interest would be managed in the appropriate way in a Dutton government.”

Education Minister Jason Clare last year accused other Coalition frontbenchers of hypocrisy after this masthead revealed they associated with migration and education agents before blocking the government’s laws to cap foreign students caps and tighten rules for agents.

Coalition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan dined with migration and education agents at a breakfast the day before the Coalition opposed new laws, while education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson headlined an event for migration agents and private colleges – including a Liberal Party member who helps international students extend stays – weeks beforehand.

Dutton also made a private pledge to review a “golden ticket” visa for wealthy investors in a conversation with a migration agent during a Liberal Party fundraiser this year.

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